Saturday, May 9, 2009

Some exciting news!

I realized recently that I hadn't told everyone about my plans for the upcoming school year (you know with my teaching credential and all) until I spilled the beans about it last Thursday. So here it is. Last march I applied through the Spanish Embassy for a job as a teaching assistant in an English classroom in Spain. So I applied and with this job position I don't get to choose the city or the age level that I want to teach, but I was able to pick a first, second and third choice for which region in Spain I want to be placed. My first choice was Castilla-Leon because that is where I went to study my first time in Spain (the capital is Valladolid) and since I know the region well and thought maybe I could go to Valladolid again, I picked it. So I have been waiting for two months now to hear back from the embassy and finally received the news last Thursday....I've been accepted AND they placed me in Castilla-Leon! I was happy to hear this. I won't find out what city I will be placed in or what grade level (although I requested elementary school) until sometime in June. Soooo....it looks like I'm going back to Spain in Sept/Oct and will be there until May/June of 2010. Thank you for those of you who truly supported me in this decision!

Love you all,
Celeste

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Dia de la cruz

This past Sunday, May 3rd, was Dia de la Cruz (day of the cross) which is a celebration throughout Andalucia. The biggest celebrations take place in Cordoba (where Mario was) and here in Granada. I asked several people what is celebrated on this day and no one could tell me...hehe...celebrate anyway I guess! Well, I do know that on this day in the plazas throughout Granada there is a large cross decorated with red carnations and then in front of the cross there are several items that represent Andalucia and the gitano culture. People dress up as gitanos (gypsies) and wear flamenco dresses as well and in the plazas people dance to Sevillanas which is a type of music that is only in Andalucia, but is somewhat similar to Flamenco music.

So Anna, my new roommate Brittany (For those who don't know, I have a new roommate just for the month of May, she's from Half Moon Bay, 23 years old, and is going to grad school in the fall and very nice) and I spent the whole day outside walking around the city looking at the different plazas. The children were the best part; they were so cute and I got some great pictures of some kids. Anyway, it was a good day and the streets were packed with people.

Oh, and Hermi's kids (my host mom's oldest daughter) were dressed up too. Sergio was wearing a male gitano outfit, which he looked adorable in, and the 3 month old baby was in a flamenco dress.....she is too cute!

Love, Celeste

P.S. Two of my friends have left Spain, which is a bummer. Now it's just Anna and me, but I'm looking forward to doing the last few things in Granada that I've been meaning to do and enjoy this last month. I can't wait to see all of you when I get back!!!!

Two adorable little girls dancing to the Sevillana music.
In the cathedral's plaza, they had a concert from 8-10pm. We ended up watching it for an hour and it was so much fun. We weren't able to sit down, but we were in the second row where everyone was standing so we saw everything. All the songs were about Granada.
I am in front of the cross in plaza Bib-Rambla
Sergio and Daniela in their gitano outfits! She was a little fussy because she was hot in the outfit.
At the city plaza, there was a platform in front of the cross where all the children could dance. You can see a few in this picture.
The concert again. I loved how colorful all the dresses were.
Anna in front of the cross in plaza Bib-Rambla
Men and boys, dressed up as gitanos, riding their horses through the streets of Granada. The city didn't smell so great on this day... :)