Sevilla and Morocco!

Last night I arrived back completely exhausted from a phenomenal weekend in Seville and Morocco.  The trip was long and tiring, but I loved every bit of it!

Early on Thursday morning, Hannah and I caught a train from Almería to Seville (Amy came later).  The train was supposed to only take six hours, but ended up taking seven and a half. We arrived mid-afternoon and immediately sought out a great place to have lunch.  We eventually chose a small tapas bar and ate delicious paella and spinach with garbanzo beans. Although we noticed that a lot of the tapas were the same as the ones normally offerened in Almería, we also noticed that there were some tapas unique to Seville!  After living in Spain for so long, it's easy to pick up on these slight differences.  Anyway, after lunch we spent the afternoon exploring the picturesque city of Seville.  We walked past the famous Cathedral, Torre de Oro (gold tower), and the Guadalquivir River.  The city's arquitecture is stunning, and walking around the city is entertainment in itself.  After a quick cafe con leche and pastry, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for the night.  For dinner, we did a bit of a tapas bar crawl and tried some of the new Sevillian tapas. After tapas we strolled around the city a bit, but with quickly grew tired with exhaustion from the long journey and headed back to the hotel around midnight.

Day two in Sevilla started off with a trip to Starbucks.  Some of you may criticize me for this, but trust me when I say I don't have Starbucks often and it's a real treat when I get to indulge in my cafe americano.  After that, we ventured to the notorious Plaza de España and the gardens that surround it.  We enjoyed a long lunch in the Sevillan sun and treated ourselves to ice cream afterwards. Then, we headed back to the hotel to grab our suitcases, and headed to the meeting point for our Morocco trip.  We traveled with a group called "Discover Sevilla" which organizes various trips around Seville.  We boarded one of the two coach busses with our four guides (two Spanish, two American) and drove down to the port (it took about 3 hours).  Then we boarded a ferry to Tangiers, a port city in northern Morocco.  After about an hour on the ferry, we had arrived in Africa!  We got back on the busses (which had been brought over on the ferry) and went straight to the hotel, it was about 9pm at this point.  We had an incredible dinner at the hotel including a fresh moroccan salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, tuna, beets, boiled egg, carrots and boiled potatoe topped with herbs and a simple dressing), a giant chicken and vegetable couscous (I ate around the chicken because I gave up meat for lent), and had a plate of fresh fruit for dessert. We also were only allowed to drink bottled water due to unsanitary water in Morocco. After dinner we went straight to our rooms and crashed, once again exhausted from the days long journey.

Chefchaouen

The next day we woke up early, had a wonderful (carb-heavy) continental breakfast at the hotel, and then boarded a bus to Chefchaouen.  It took us about three hours to get there and the ride was nothing like I expected Morocco to be.  Rolling green hills, farms, trees and lakes made up the majority of the landscape on the way there.  My English friends even commented that it looked identical to the English countryside.  Eventually, however, the hills grew bigger and turned into mountains and thats when we new we had arrived at Chefchaouen (some of the mountains even had some snow on the very top!).  Chefchaouen is a Moroccan mountain city notorious for its white-washed buildings with blue doors and accents everywhere.  Our tour guide told us that the Moroccans painted the city blue to keep mosquitos away from the city.  Side effect of repelling mosquitos, the blue city attracts tourists from all over!  We spent an hour or so with a local touring us around the city, and then sat down to a delicious lunch of Moroccan salad and couscous.  After lunch, we had time to shop and barter with the local shop keepers for Moroccan products.  Our tour guides recommended us to barter as the shop keepers usually price their products double or triple the actual price and you must barter them down to get a reasonable price. At first, some of us felt weird about arguing the price, but it became like a game.  Most of the Moroccans loved it as they just wanted to talk to us anyway.  They were all very friendly, and we made some good purchases.  Speaking of talking with the Moroccans, we had a bit of language confusion in Morocco.  We were sure if we should speak Spanish, English, French or Arabic (we learned how to say hello, thank you and no thank you), with the shop keepers.  Although the mother-tongue in Morocco is Arabic, nearly half of their education is in French.  Furthermore, however, due to high tourism (and being so close to Spain), many shop keepers speak Spanish and English as well!  It was overwhelming at times, but some how we managed to communicate with everyone.  After a few hours of shopping in Chefchaouen, we got back on the bus and went back to the hotel where we had another delicious meal and went straight to bed.




The next morning we had another early wake-up to go to a costal city called Assilah.  It was only about an hour bus ride this time which was nice. We toured the city for a bit and then shopped/bartered once again.  Assilah was different from Chefchaouen because it was mostly flat, located near the ocean, and much smaller. Most of the buildings where white yet had blue doors that resembled those of Chefchaouen.  We spent the morning shopping and sitting down for a traditional Moroccan mint tea.  After a few hours in Assilah, we drove to a restaurant a few minutes away and had lunch (Moroccan salad, rice and fresh fruit).  After a long lunch, we drove to the beach where we went on a camel ride!  Much different than riding a horse; you are much higher off the ground and the ride is not nearly as smooth as a horse.  After the camel ride, we got back on the bus and headed to the ferry to go back to Spain.  It was a short trip and I was sad to go, but it was a great sneak-peak into Moroccan culture and life!  I would love to go back another time and go to Casablanca or Marrakesh to see what the big cities are all about.  The ferry ride was... not great.  The ferry was PACKED as many Spaniards and other tour groups were returning from a holiday weekend in Morocco and didn't leave until an hour and a half after the scheduled departure.  Furthermore, the water was rough and the boat was rocking like crazy.  The staff was handing out vomit bags left and right, it was not a pretty sight.  Luckily, after two and a half hours it was over and we got off and rode our busses back to Seville. Amy, Hannah and I went straight to our hotel and straight to bed after we got back around midnight.

Hannah left early the next morning, but Amy and I stayed a little extra in Seville.  We had breakfast at our hotel and did a little shopping in the morning.  It was raining, so we weren't to keen on walking around too much.  Coincidently, my sister's friends who are studying abroad in Segovia, Spain were in Seville on the same day!  We met up and had a long lunch and just caught up a bit with each other.  Unfortunately, it was short lived as Amy and I had to leave on a 4pm train back to Almería. Nevertheless, it was nice to see them just for a couple of hours.

All in all a FANTASTIC trip!  No major problems, everything went smooth.  I got to travel to a new continent and see a city in Spain that I've always wanted to! Although the trip was great, it's always great to come back home and relax.  I'm looking forward to a tranquil week and weekend in Almería. 

Día de Andalucía

Today (February 27th) we celebrated the "Día de Andalucía" at school!  I didn't really know what to expect; from what I heard from my private lesson students, every school celebrates a little differently!  Here's what you need to know. Día de Andalucía is a regional holiday celebrated on February 28th each year in the autonomous region of Andalucía.  It's purpose to to take time to celebrate the people, food, culture and costumes that give life to the southern culture most associated with Spain.  Because the holiday lands on a Thursday this year, we get both Thursday and Friday off.  Hence, why we celebrated the holiday a day early in the schools.

Anyone would immediately notice that it was not a normal day at school from the second you walked through the doors this morning. Many students wore traditional Andalucian clothes which meant flamenco dresses, dramatic make-up, and flowers in hair for the girls, and white shirts, black or red hats, suspenders and boots for the boys.  Needless to say, it was adorable.

My students performing a traditional flamenco dance!

In the morning, the kindergarden, 1st and 2nd grade students gathered in the "comedor" (multipurpose room) located just across the patio from the school.  There were a series of performances including a poetry reading, traditional flamenco singing, a flute ensemble, three flamenco dances, and a guitar trio, all performed by the students!  It was so inspiring to see students as young as kindergarden trying to master a dance as passionate and complicated as the flamenco at such a young age!  All of the students did a great job and their classmates seemed to like it too.  The second half of the morning, the 3rd-6th grade students watched the same show but I couldn't see it due to my teaching schedule.

At recess, a bunch of the mothers in town got together and feed the students a typical Andalucían breakfast which was a tostada (half of a toasted baguette) with either olive oil or a tomato purée on top. It sounds plain, but let me tell you, that tomato tostada is one of my favorite things here! Simple, delicious and fairly healthy.  It made me so happy to see the kids running around the patio so content and excited about their bread!  Kids ran back for seconds and thirds which we Americans might view as greedy, but considering a lot of these kids don't usually get seconds and thirds at home due to the financial hardships created by the economic "crisis," I was glad to see it.

Our art project on Día de Andalucía

Finally, in the afternoon class hours we did an art and craft project making 3-D Andalucian people, and quizzed the kids on Andalucian trivia (which I loved because I learned a lot too).  Overall, probably one of my favorite days at school so far because I got to see into the heart of the Spanish culture.  Tomorrow I'm off to Sevilla to eventually leave with a group from there to go to Morocco for the weekend!  I couldn't be more excited that it worked out that I get to go to Andalucía's captial city on the Día de Andalucía purely by coincidence!  Can't wait to see what Sevilla and Morocco have in store for me these next few days!!

¡CARNAVAL!

So, I haven't updated in a while.  Sorry about that!  My life has been pretty routine lately, no traveling or big festivals, just living my average Spanish life (which is still great by the way) until this past weekend!

The past two weeks have been Carnavales in Spain!  For those of you who don't know, Carnavales (or just Carnival in English) is two weeks of celebration to kick off the lenten season!  I guess the easiest way to describe it to Americans is Halloween meets Mardi Gras.  Carnaval involves costumes, parades and lots of music!  My town, Almería, celebrated it on a small scale, like the majority of Spain.  There was a parade on the weekend, and costumes here and there in the streets, but nothing major.  However, there are two cities in Spain that celebrate Carnavales on a much larger scale.  The biggest celebration is in Tenerife on the Canary Islands.  They celebrate Carnaval more like Brazil with beauty pageants, drag shows, and tons of concerts.  Although it would be amazing to go to Tenerife, the flights are pretty expensive so it was out of the question.  So, we decided to go to the second biggest Carnaval celebration (conveniently located on mainland Spain) in Cádiz.

Parade in Cádiz!

I went to Cádiz with a student group from Almería and we had a blast!  Cádiz is located on the opposite side of Andalucia from Almeria; it's a costal city on the Atlantic Ocean.  It was about a 6-7 hour bus trip, so it was pretty long.  Lucky for me, I slept the entire way there and pack.  For those of you who know me well, that shouldn't surprise you ;)  Anyway, we were only in Cádiz for one night (from 5pm to 5am) but it was well worth the trip!  Absolutely everyone was dressed up in costumes of all sorts!  Also, the city was alive with Carnaval spirit with everything from parades and confetti in the streets to Spaniards singing songs in the streets!  It was a once in a lifetime experience, and I'm glad I got to participate!  My three friends and I dressed up as superheros.  We called ourselves "The Erasmusibles" which is a play on "The Incredibles."  Erasmus is the student group we went to Cádiz with, so everyone seemed to find our costumes pretty clever.  I've added some pictures so you can see for yourself.  Enjoy!

Lunch in the village!

Maribel, Carlita and I

So thís past weekend I was lucky enough to get invited to a Spanish village for lunch on Saturday.  I was invited by one of the families that I give private lessons to.  The country house (or cortigo as they call it here) belongs to the father´s family.  The try to get out to the village nearly everyweekend to have a long lunch with family, and this weekend they brought me along!  I drove out there with the family which consists of a 18 month old girl (Carlita), a four year old boy (Dani), a mother (Maribel) and the father (Juan).  It only took as about 40 minutes to get there, but I definitely wasn´t in the city anymore!  The village, which is called "La fuente de higuera" (translates to the source of fig trees), is situated among rolling hills, olive trees, cacti, and blooming almond trees.  The entire town only consists of about 30 houses and one empty church.  Not a restaurante, cafe, shop or bar in sight!
I got there and was immediately introduced to everyone.  There were about fifteen of us in all!  Food prep started almost immediately after I got there, washing vegetables and skinning potatoes.  However, shortly after we arrived there was a fiasco because "we didn´t have enough bread" according to the grandmother.  Even though we already had four loaves of bread between 15 people (four of which are children), a few of use drove to the closest town about ten minutes away to get some bread (four more loaves!).  When I came back, the lunch preparation was in full motion!  Meat was on the grill and over the open fire just outside the house, potatoes were chopped and being fried, and a big salad was being prepared.  After about an hour more of visiting and cooking, we finally sat down to lunch around 2:30pm.  We had chicken fillets, pork fillets, blood sausage, salchicha (sausage), breakfast sausage and huge slabs of bacon.  And that´s just the meat!  We also had bread, fresh fries, and a salad with fresh kiwis and mangos in it!  It was all delicious but I couldn´t fit any more in my stomach after about a plate and a half of heavy food.  The grandfather kept telling me to eat more but I had to politely recline even though everything was delicious!  Additoinally, while I chose to drink wine out of a glass like normal, the grandpa was drinking his wine out of a traditional Spanish porrón (see picture) and just poured wine into his mouth throughout the meal using that! 

The village "La fuente de higuera"

After lunch, we cleaned up and went for a walk outside to see a little bit of the village.  Then, we came back for dessert which consisted of tangerines, coffee, and bizcotcho.  Bizcotch is like a cross between cake and bread and we had two, one lemon flavored and the other orange.  Both delicious.  After dessert hour, there was a surprise for the kids.  A man up the road owned a couple of donkeys and offered the little kids a ride on them!  After the donkey rides, the sun was setting and it was time for us to head back.
I had a great day in the village and felt so lucky that I got to see into the life of a Spaniard for an afternoon.  The entire family asked me to come back to the country house or to the beach house next time and I might just have to take them up on that offer :)

Winter Break!

Wow, I have a LOT to catch up on!  I am going to try to keep everything as brief as possible, otherwise this will get way too long.  Well, on Christmas Eve I set out on a fifteen day trip!  My adventure started in Italy, then moved on to Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and back to Austria.  Here's a summary of my trip...

The wonderful family I spent Christmas with!

St. Catherine's Monastery 

As I said, the trip started in Italy.  I went to go stay with some old family friends.  This was I family I was very close with when I was little, but then they moved to Europe and I haven't seen them ever since!  Although it has been fifteen years, it wasn't weird seeing them at all!  I had a great time celebrating the christmas festivities with them.  On Christmas Eve, I went out with Dan and Chanti (the two children who are about my age) into Varese (a city about 45 minutes north of Milan, near the Swiss boarder) to spend the night in a cafe with their friends.  Apparently in Italy, Christmas Eve is a night you spend with friends and Christmas day is for the family.  With that being said, I woke up on Christmas morning and went to mass with Antonella (the mother) and then we came back to a giant Christmas day lunch.  It was seven courses long and each one was delicious but I was stuffed by the end.  Later that night, Dan and Antonella showed me a few sights around Lago Maggiore (the lake they live near) including an incredibly old and well preserved monastery called St. Catherines which is built right into the side of the lake!  The next day we had another long lunch to celebrate St. Stefano's day and then Antonella drove me to Milan for the day.  We spent a few hours in Milan before I had to catch my train to Austria.  It was a fantastic trip and I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my Christmas this year.

Salzburg

I took a night train from Milan and arrived in Salzburg around 7am.  I met Amanda (a fellow American that I met through my program in Spain) at our hostel there.  This was a bit strange because it was my second time in Salzburg; I had been there six years earlier with my high school band.  I definitely had a sense of déjá vu being there again, but it was great! Over the day and a half we were there, we visited a lot of things: the mozart museum, the Hoehnsalzburg castle, St. Peter's cemetery, St. Peter's catacombs, the Mirabelle gardens, and more!  But, I have to say my favorite part about being in Salzburg was just walking around the picturesque city, soaking in the atmosphere,  and sampling the local cuisine.  We had plenty of sausages and pretzels as well as a nice meal of beef soup, wiener-schnitzel, potato salad and Austrian beer.

Bled, Slovenia

Our next stop was Slovenia.  We stayed in the capital of the country called Ljubljana (pronouced Lu-bli-yana). We were lucky to be visiting this time of the year in Slovenia because between Christmas and New Years is Slovenia's independence day.  So, while we were there, there was a HUGE festival going on!  Along the river of the city in the centre there were tons of booths selling everything from traditional Slovenian cuisine (a lot of meat), mulled wine, homemade candy and more.  In addition to that, there was live music around every corner!  Some of it was traditional and some a little more modern.  Amanda had a great night wandering throughout the festival and enjoying the Slovenian's hospitality and friendly nature.  Although not every Slovenian speaks perfect English, they are always willing to try and to make you as happy as possible.  In addition to seeing the capital, we took a day trip to Bled, a city about an hour outside of Ljubljana.  Bled is the home to a gorgeous lake, surrounded by the Alps, with an island in the middle with a beautiful church.  The views were breathtaking, and I would recommend Bled to anyone passing through Slovenia!

The main square in Zagreb, Croatia for NYE!

Plitvice National Park

Our next stop was Croatia!  The first city we went to was Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.  We had a great time in Zagreb!  We met a group of fantastic people at our hostel from all over the world (South Africa, Australia, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, etc.).  On New Years Eve, all of us went out for a nice (yet extremely cheap) meal, and then we headed into the main square where there was a HUGE concert going on and tons of people!  When midnight struck, there were fireworks everywhere!  Definitely a New Years Eve to remember. Also, while we were in Zagreb, we took a day trip to Plitvice National Park.  This park was STUNNING!  It is home to turquoise green lakes and waterfalls around every corner.  The pathways throughout the park get you right up next to the water!  It was really incredible and the pictures don't do the place justice.

Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia

After a few days in Zagreb we headed down the coast of Croatia to a city called Split.  I didn't really know what to expect from Split, but it as absolutely incredible!  Possibly, my favorite place of the whole trip.  Split it a very unique city that reminds me of Italy in a lot of ways, but it still maintains that eastern-european flare.  The coolest thing in Split is called Diocletian's Palace. It's a palace that dates back to the 4th century, has been built on for hundreds of years, and is still used as the centre of city life today!  It's incredible to see this amazingly well-preserved fortress filled with shops, places to lives, restaurants, bars, cafes, and markets!  Although it is still used today, it maintains it's ancient architecture and medieval charm.  Amanda and I enjoyed some great food in Split as well!  We treated ourself to an Italian lunch (I had gorgonzola gnocci with dried plums) and traditional Bosnian food called cevapi (minced meat inside a bread pocket with roasted peppers and onions).  Although we were only in Split for about a day and a half, it was definitely worth the stop.  I hope to get back to Croatia in the summer to I can see the amazing beaches I keep hearing about!

Outside the Schonbrunn Palace

Our last stop was Vienna, Austria.  Vienna is a town that's full of culture, yet also has a very metropolitan feel (it is a city of nearly two million people after all).  Most of what Vienna has to offer is the amazing opera scene and tons of museums, and being the poor travelers that we are, we couldn't afford to see everything.  We did manage to do some fun activities in Vienna including visiting the Naschtmark (Vienna's main food market) and got to sample everything from dried hibiscus flower to stuffed pepperoncinis, went to Sunday morning mass with the notorious Vienna's Boys Choir accompanied by a full orchestra, and visited the Schonbrunn Palace (the summer home of the Hapsburgs).  It was a great last stop.

All in all the trip was phenomenal! I always love seeing new parts of the world and seeing what their culture is like.  However, I must admit after fifteen days straight of traveling (and in countries that I didn't know the language) I was extremely happy to get back to a country with a familiar language and a familiar bed :)

Comparing Winter Holidays

In the U.S. every family has slightly different ways of celebrating Christmas and New Years, but only slightly different.  However, in general, we all share the general idea of how the holidays should be: snow (for most of us), lots of family time, gingerbread houses, a big special meal on Christmas eve and day, opening presents on Christmas morning, Christmas cookies, Christmas tree with family ornaments, Christmas movies, Christmas carols, and maybe a kiss on New Years Eve at midnight.  Here in Spain, their customs are quite different.  I'll start with Christmas.

Spanish Style Waffle!

First of all, the holiday spirit is not quite as abundant here as it is in the U.S.  Sure, there are some lights and holiday decorations, but nothing on the scale of what I'm used to in the U.S.  The biggest changes I've seen in Almería include a giant Christmas tree on the ramblas, Christmas lights lining the main shopping street in the city, and setting up the temporary Christmas market.  The Christmas market is like any average Spanish mercadillo that sells scarves, jewelry, hand crafts, t-shirts, etc.  Also, the Spanish market has quite a few waffle and crepe stands set up for a holiday treat.  Spanish waffles are similar to ours, minus the toppings.  Instead of butter and syrup, they add chocolate, whipped cream, marmalade, etc.  Not exactly what I think of when I think of Christmas treats.  Also, they set up a small ice rink on the ramblas which I found very impressive considering it's still in the 60s here most days.  Moving on to how they celebrate Christmas Eve (noche buena) and Christmas day (navidad).  Families usually gather for these holidays, go to Christmas mass if they're religious and just eat and have a good time.  However, no presents are involved in celebrating Christmas.  Spanish people exchange presents on "Reyes" which is Three Kings Day on the 6th on January.  Although this may seem strange, it makes a lot more sense.  According to the Biblical story, presents didn't occur in the story until the kings arrived many days after Jesus' birth.  So, this is the day the Spaniards choose to celebrate with presents.  When kids are little in Spain, they write to the three kings instead of Santa Claus for their presents.  In addition, "Reyes" is celebrated with parades, family, etc. and is considered a much bigger deal than Christmas around here.  Back tracking to another thing about Christmas Eve, apparently for young adults it's one of the biggest party nights of the year.  After dinner, all of the youngsters go out to the clubs for dancing and drinking!  I don't even think clubs are open on Christmas Eve in the U.S., so this is a strange concept for me.  Something else I learned is that the concept of a Christmas tree is very American/English.  Only in the past 20-30 years have Spaniards begun to decorate their houses with a Christmas tree.  Additionally, the majority of their ornaments are store-bought.  The idea of decorating a tree with handmade or family ornaments is a completely foreign concept.  Instead of Christmas trees, you will be much more likely to find a nativity scene in a Spaniard's house during the holidays. Finally, I found it strange that most Spaniards have never heard of gingerbread men, gingerbread houses, Christmas cookies and other American Christmas norms.  Just a few more cultural differences to add to the list.

The delicious paella we made :)

New Years Eve is generally celebrated with family here in Spain.  Also, when I mentioned the tradition of a New Years Eve kiss to my students, they thought I was crazy.  Their New Years Eve tradition is eating twelve grapes right before midnight, one to represent each month of the year.  Additionally, for women it is a tradition to buy a new pair of red underwear and wear it on New Years Eve.  My friend, Amanda (who I will be traveling with), and I thought this was kind of funny so we bought some to wear this year.

 Some of my personal highlights of the past week included getting together with some friends here and making a holiday meal, paella. Also, my students performed the Christmas Carols we've been working on the past couple of weeks at the holiday celebration on Friday.

Celebrating the holidays in another country really opens your mind to other cultural customs.  However, I wonder what it's like to be in a country that is not dominated by Christianity, like my friends who are currently volunteering in India, Cambodia, Tanzania, and Samoa.  Maybe I'll find out one day, but until then "Feliz navidad y año nuevo" to all of my friends and family :)  Now, I'm off on my own holiday adventure to Milan, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia.  Can't wait!

English is More Complicated Than I Thought

It's not until you teach English that you realize how complicated it really is!  In addition to my 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes, I am tutoring students from ages 2-40 in English.  I know this is said a lot, but I'm honestly learning just as much from them as they are from me!  First of all, my students and I hit mini language barriers on a regular basis, which usually results in us looking up a certain word or phrase in Spanish or English.  The result?  I'm expanding my Spanish vocabulary through our confusion!  In addition to that, I am constantly challenged to recall English grammar rules that I either learned long ago or learned innately through speaking it as my first language.  If you are having trouble understanding what I am trying to explain, here are some of examples of extremely challenging parts English language you may have never though of as difficult.

-The word "get" is a simple word we use on a regular basis, but what does it really mean?  Well, according to dictionary.com, it has 25 different definitions!  In the following phrases, get means something different in every sentence: "Can you get me that glass?" "I've got to go" "Get dressed" "Get up" "I use my bike to get around" "I need to get my hair cut" "Sorry, I didn't get your name" "Get after it."  I could keep going, but you get the idea (no pun intended).

-One of my older students asked me what the verb "scoop" meant the other day, and I was stumped.  The first example that came to my mind was scooping ice cream.  But then I thought, you can also "scoop" someone up into your arms, but how is that any different than just picking someone up?  So the only way I could think to describe it was picking up in a circular motion.

-We all know that the pronunciation of a word can change its meaning, but how confusing is it when where you put the stress on two identical words changes it from a verb to a noun.  For example:  construct vs construct, and direct vs direct just to name a few.

-Riddle me this, why in English if you say, "I'm up for that" or "I'm down for that" does it mean the same thing?  Shouldn't it be opposite

-One of the hardest things I've encountered is when you come across a word or a phrase that literally doesn't exist in English.  I have two examples.  The verb "to lean" doesn't exist in Spanish; if you're leaning against something, they would say that object is supporting you and if you're just leaning in the air they would call that stretching.  The second example is the saying "let alone."  Sometimes we say something like, I haven't even showered, let alone get out of bed; however, there is no equivalent in Spanish.  You can imagine how difficult this makes teaching these words and phrases

Well I would keep listing examples all day but I'd be here all night!  Instead, I will leave you with my favorite "English Pronunciation" poem.  As you read it, think about how similar spellings can be pronounced so many different ways!  You'll be thankful English is your first language


"I take it you already know 
Of tough and bough and cough and dough? 
Others may stumble, but not you 
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through. 
Well don't! And now you wish, perhaps, 
To learn of less familiar traps. 
Beware of heard, a dreadful word 
That looks like beard but sounds like bird. 
And dead: it's said like bed, not bead, 
For goodness sake don't call it deed! 
Watch out for meat and great and threat 
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt). 
A moth is not a moth as in mother 
Nor both as in bother, nor broth as in brother, 
And here is not a match for there, 
Nor dear and fear, for bear and pear. 
And then there's dose and rose and lose-- 
Just look them up--and goose and choose 
And cork and work and card and ward 
And font and front and word and sword 
And do and go, then thwart and cart, 
Come, come! I've hardly made a start. 
A dreadful Language? Why man alive! 
I learned to talk it when I was five. 
And yet to write it, the more I tried, 
I hadn't learned it at fifty-five."