The night I arrived in Cordoba I had suffered throughout my flights from Indianapolis to Madrid, which connected in both London Luton and Chicago O´Hare airports. This exhaustion put me in a perfect position to be ripped off bigtime in Madrid by a cab driver that charged me 85 euros for a ride from the airport to the train station, about a ten minute drive. The cab was unmarked and he charged me for using his cell pho
ne for a call that he made that I did not ask for. Of course, at the time I was tired and had overpacked and just wanted to get myself to Cordoba so the anger came later. I was so worried about getting charged in the airports because I had 3 carry-ons and 2 huge bags that I was just thrilled to be done with planes. I had to pack for changing climates, mind you!. Just one of many travelling mistakes. Luckily I was greeted at the train station by my friendly bilingual coordinator of the school where I am teaching. Right away he took me to the place I would be living in Cordoba which was about a 15 minute walk from the school and the train station. I met my roommate and the apartment owner. However, the Spanish here was so different – cortan las palabras y hablan muy rapido – I did not understand and thought I had two roommates for the first few days. My apartment or piso is very simple but nice, and it is furnished. The coordinator showed me how to get to my school from my apartment and then I finally went to bed. The next morning I was up early to catch the train to Granada, a city about 2 hours away, for the program orientation. I was thrilled to be carrying only one bag this time on the train. The hotel for the orientation in Granada was very nice and I shared my room with a girl who was placed just outside of Sevilla, another great city in Andalucia. Most of the people I talked to seemed to be in or outside of Granada or Sevilla. Some were on the coast. Many had just graduated from college and few had taught before. There were some who were actually staying for their third year as an Auxiliar (the program in Spain is only three years old) and one that had applied for residency in Spain and gotten it. Interesting… Unfortunately the program paid for one night at our hotel, so after a long day of orientation we were off to our destinations. I was disappointed because I really wanted to see more of Granada. We did go out for tapas at a bar in the center of town. The night life looked like a lot of fun, but of course we could not stay! I had to be at work the next day.
The high school is very different from high schools in the US. There is no refrigerator or microwave for food, in fact, I have seldom seen people eat much more than a banana at work besides myself and Chris, the other Auxiliar at my school. Once school is out, school is out – the teachers are gone and no one stays longer than they need to. The school is located in a lower-middle class neighborhood, according to my coordinator and has about 300 students and 33 teachers. It is a special bilingual school, so students in the classes I will be in were selected to be in the bilingual program. First we met the teachers with whom we would be working. Basically we would be the native English voice in the classroom and assist the teachers with whatever they needed. There was little time to do a huge introduction for myself in the classes because of the curriculum. I am assisting in the English conversation, Geography and History, and Technology courses. It is strange to not be planning lessons on my own or not plan around the English language. The material is taught in English – mostly translated. The students, however, are great. I am with students from 13-15 years old. There are about 30 students per class. I hope to be able to get creative with some of my own materials soon…
The past weekend my roommate, who is a student, went to her village or pueblo for the weekend, which is something I assume she will do every weekend. I stayed in town because I have no money and wanted to explore the city. I ventured out and found the Corte Ingles, the biggest department store chain in Spain, as well as the better known Spanish clothing stores such as Zara and Mango. I managed to avoid going inside. I walked around and found myself in the Juderia, or Jewish quarter, a beautiful cobble-stoned neighborhood with endless paths and touristy bars. I finally found the famous Mesquita, or Mosque. Saturday night I went out to a flamenco concert as I had decided that I didn´t care if I was alone and I would not stay in. I went out with one of the singers afterwards. Either he lied or I misinterpretted his invitation, as I thought I would be going out with the entire band but it just ended up being the two of us. He was a little too forward too fast and I realized that I wanted to go home, so I did. But it was good Spanish practice and I can now go back there anytime I want for free (but if I bring a friend they pay half). Still, that would be weird going back and telling the ticket vendors that the guy who sings whose name I don´t remember told me I didn´t have to pay for the show tonight, so I probably won´t do that. This weekend my roommate has invited me to her pueblo so I leave tomorrow (Thursday) after work. These four-day weekends and short work days are really something different. I could get used to it. I want to venture out to the nearby cities, but I need to get paid first.
Last night I attended my first yoga class in Spain. It took me forever to find a place that taught yoga, and I was thrilled to finally get to one. This particular studio also taught Tai Chi and Pilates, so I was not worried and thought whatever kind it was would suit me aside from my practice at home – of course I brought a yoga mat to Cordoba! The first class was free so I figured I would see what I thought. First of all, we started off the class by running around the room in circles and then running with our knees up to our chest and then with our heels to our butts. Then we did a few suicide-like moves, specifically we ran back and forth, jumped down to the ground and pushed our feet back into a push-up position and jumped back up, clapping our hands above us. We did this for about 20 minutes, then we got into pairs and did sit-ups. At this point I had to ask my partner if I was in a yoga class. He said yes, and that we were just warming up. Next, the teacher left the room for about 15 minutes while everyone else got out white towels or blankets to lie down on, congregated in a small circle and begin chatting it up like it aint no thang. This is when I actually felt a bit embarrassed to have an actual yoga mat. When the teacher returned in her yoga t-shirt, she turned off the lights and started a meditation which I barely understood, as I am still getting accustomed to the strong accent here, but the mood was right. We finished the class with some breathing exercises, and for a final touch, the teacher held up her right arm and said “paz” and everyone left. Very interesting. No asanas or postures. I talked with the teacher afterwards and she said that they usually do asanas, but about once a week she does more of a meditative class. She also told me that as soon as I sign up as a member I will see that they do asanas. I am a bit skeptical of this and of the yoga in Cordoba, considering the fact that this studio was very highly recommended several local Cordobeses. While I am trying to be open-minded about the differences here, and I have never been to a yoga class that began with running circles around a room and ended with a quick “paz”. As a certified teacher I would actually like to teach it myself but I know I can´t do it legally. I actually wouldn´t mind teaching for free, but I know I´ll either have to get this Spanish dialect down or teach it in English. I will keep looking into that and keep a positive attitute. While the yoga was not at all what I expected, at least I didn´t have to pay. 
