I've been quite occupied over here with my little Spanish life these days. My new adventures, and new friends, have been doing a good job of keeping my planner nice and planned. The weeks have been flying by, and I have nothing but wonderful things to look forward to, especially in March.
Work has been good and the kids at my school are often the highlight of my day. It's funny how many things I've already forgotten about being a little kid, like how you lose your teeth. I totally forgot that happened! It was pretty exciting back then I'll admit, but now when the kids come up to show me their wiggly whites I struggle to relate to their excitement, and instead find myself trying not to look too grossed out. At least I usually manage offer a semi-enthusiastic "woah, cooool". I'm really excited that Donny get's to visit my school when he arrives next month, in order to convince the teachers that it was a good idea I offered for him and I to lead one of my classes in a good old guitar sing along. We'll be opening with the Wheels on the Bus...and that's as far as we've gotten with our set list.
Last week, I got to accompany one of my classes on their field trip to their local Fire Station. It was awesome! We got to ride in a fire truck AND I even slid down the fire pole. Alright, okay I not-so-willingly slid down the fire pole as I may or may not have felt slightly pressured by the 17 kids chanting "Ashley! Ashley! Ashley!". It was a lovely day, and quite a cool experience.
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| Taking our ride in the Fire Truck! |
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| Proof! My teacher only got a picture of the start of my decent... |
While it was a slight bummer for Donny and I to spend our first Valentine's Day apart (stupid commercial holiday making me feel bad), I made up for it by teaching the kids at school how to make Valentines. Three of the students in one of my classes also surprised me with a huge picture they had made for me, it said many delightful things, my personal favorites being 'you are a very good teacher' and 'we love you'. Tear! Since I'm not always the greatest at planning things ahead of time, I got this brilliant idea to send Donny a pizza on Valentine's Day. I used Skype to call the Round Table near his house, then started to Skype with him so it was delivered during our romantic conversation. He had no idea, it was awesome...and delicious. This is the Valentine I made for Donny to show the kids as an example, it's a Valentine's pizza!
The production of The Vagina Monologues that I am planning/organizing/directing is due to open in just over two weeks. This is something that has kept me incredibly busy, but I'm enjoying every minute of it. We finally got our two venues secured earlier this month and I'm pretty sure that since then, every moment of my life has revolved around this show. It's been challenging but exciting, I've been contacting blogs and venues for publicity, arranging rehearsals and fundraising, and meeting with the girls several times a week to rehearse. I know the show will be great, and we've already got a bunch of people interested in coming to see us perform. The best part? All the money we are raising will be donated to a local woman's organization here in Madrid. On Sunday, we will be interviewed by an English speaking blog called Cheap in Madrid, they will be writing an article about us to help promote our production. I'm very excited, especially considering that I actually follow their blog. I'll be sure to share the interview once it's posted! Here is the flyer for our show. If anyone wants to fly to Spain to see it, we may be able to negotiate on ticket prices...
So, March will be a very big month indeed. First, we'll have the show which opens on the 11th and closes on the 21st. After that, I'll only have about a week to wait until Donny arrives on the 29th. He's going to be in Europe with me for just over two weeks, which will be the most time we've been able to spend together since September. Our first week together, we will be travelling since I will be on Spring break. Thanks to Donny's planning and patience, we've got flights booked to go from Madrid (Spain) to Bruges (Belgium) to Prague (Czech Republic) to Paris (France) and back. This trip will be all kinds of firsts for the both of us. I'm excited to have the opportunity to experience more of Europe, and even more excited that I get to do it with my best friend and the love of my life. With how fast time has been flying, I'm sure it will be here before we know it.
Other than that, I've been keeping busy hanging out around the city. At first, I wasn't very enthused about the city life, or Madrid in general, but I can finally admit that they're growing on me. So much that I'm considering re-applying for the program, something I swore I would never do before, how about that. Time will only tell, all I know is that my future will involve more time with Donny. Maybe another year in Madrid, together? We'll just have to wait and see. What I am enjoying about Madrid is the opportunity to see and do something different everyday. I also have grown to appreciate the accessibility of the city now that I'm a certified Metro expert. There's always something new, here are some random photos of the amusing things I've seen and done in the city lately.
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AMAZING farmer's market with delicious beer and my lovely friend Cassondra!
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| Jugglers in the street on my way to all-you-can-eat sushi... |
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| Cold frozen cold yet beautiful Winter day. |
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| The Vertical Garden |
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| San Pedro California, the city where I first lived ever! |
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| Night out with my roommates...and some random photo creeper. |
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| My friend Katherine playing her violin at open mic night. |
I hope that everyone is doing well back in the States. I'm really missing my family and friends a lot today. But with how fast time has been going, I'm sure that Summer will be here before I know it. For now, I'm happily living in the moment. I'm taking time to enjoy every day and each of the experiences that come with this once in a lifetime opportunity.
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| Man, daisy dukes, freezing Winter day...I love the park near my house. |
