poverty/ la pobreza

some thoughts on the subject, not clearly organized:

This morning I woke up with a bit of a sore throat, a stuffy nose and a wanna-be cough. Ick, I thought. It was dark outside, and I had no desire to get ready for work and walk to the bus station. I'll make oatmeal and drink tea for breakfast, I thought. At least its warm. When the oatmeal was ready I reached for my sugar and remembered !no brown sugar! They only white and raw here (I found this out when buying ingredients for cookies). Humph. And then I thought, that's it. I have no idea what it's like to be hungry. I'm complaining about not having sugar of the right consistency to add to my bowl of cereal. How pathetic. Pathetic in that I am so blessed and could even be annoyed at such a tontería, silly little thing. But now what? I realize I am extremely fortunate. What do I do about it? I went through a very idealistic phase in high school and part of college where I kind of thought I should give up the majority of my material possessions (to the "level of marginal utility" meaning to the point where giving more to alleviate suffering would cause me to suffer, and thus not solve any problems). I've kind of drifted from this idea, but not because I've somehow justified my life/lifestyle. I've come to realize that I should use my privilege for good somehow, not feel guilty about it and disown it, because others do not have the option. So what is left now is to do something with my privilege. Do something with my education. With my experiences in the world. So after this year of teaching English (hardly to suffering people for whom this will open a huge opportunity for work)... what will I do? And if I don't work for an organization that directly works toward reducing poverty/suffering... is that okay, too? Probably. It is probably okay to live, and love others, and do things of service in less "direct" ways. But I don't want to convince myself out of thinking its important. There is a lot of suffering in the world, and much of it needless. Maybe I will work to improve trade laws, so that small farmers in Latin America do not need to sell their land and move to a city to work in a factory. Maybe I will work with immigrants in the U.S. who must learn to speak English in order to survive in our society. Maybe I will teach in a school and work to inspire others to look beyond the simple things they see around them. For now, I will continue to think about these issues (and welcome any conversations on the topic!) and put white sugar in my oatmeal, being grateful that I have food to eat, among many, many other blessings. Have a great day, and don't pass up the opportunity to help someone out or simply take a few minutes to be grateful for what you have. Besos to you all.

afternoon arriba

Yesterday I got a text message from Mustafa, a Morracan guy I'd met while waiting in line at the Comiseria de Policia (another story altogether about how I am still trying to obtain my foreigner ID number...) He was going on a hike with his housemates (an Italian and a Canary Islander) and asked if I wanted to come. I decided I was only going to go if I could convince someone else to come with me, because I didn't know him all that well. Just so happens Maya, the girl I work with, came in to Granada for the day, and was game to go along. [While walking around with her earlier we passed the Cathedral where there were stands of spices...gorgeous! I lowered myself to "tourist" status and took pictures... it was a holiday and there were a lot of tourists about anyway, and, lets face it...I'll never look like I'm from here...] So we met up in a plaza in the afternoon and headed up the hill beside the Alhambra. Walked up a beautiful wooded path, and then crossed a bunch of parking lots and lines of people waiting to get into the Alhambra. Then across some fields (private?) And up a hill. I mean up. None of this follow-the-little-paths-to-switch-back-up... But once we got up! What a great view! Although it was very hazy and cloudy (the weather here has been very strange lately, and the air kind of dirty-- "desert winds from Africa") so the mountains weren't as clear as they normally are. Then we walked down and up again, to the next ridge (bush-wacking the whole way...) There was much more wind (and menacing clouds to the south) and the dirt was red, red. And I could see fields of olive trees and look over on the whole of Granada. And the monastary of Sacramonte. Quite a lovely time. Getting off that ridge was a rather steep descent, and reminded me of trails in New Mexico. Once we got back into the city we sat and rested on a rock wall and chatted a bit, and Mustafa invited us to go drink tea at their house. Tea to him is a very sweet, strong mint ("not mint! its different!") tea, brewed on the stove in a cute little metal pot and served in decorated glass .. vases? cups? with sweets he stuffed in his suitcase and brought from home. All made with Almonds. Quite tasty. We got rather wet on the way to their house, but enjoyed out tea and when the rain stopped, Maya and I headed out again, she to catch a bus to go home, and me to walk. (I got rained on again.) It was a fun afternoon, and hopefully only the first of my outdoor explorations/adventures.

teaching/learning

I officially started working at the school this week. There is another girl working there as well, from Belgium. Our time is split between the English classes with the students and conversations with professors of other subjects, who need to be able to give the classes in English next year, or the year after. The school entered a bilingual program and beginning next year, the students who enter from the primary school will also have been in the program. I like the classes pretty well. The kids actually seem pretty interested and attentive so far (more so than I expected). I've enjoyed rephrasing things, using hand motions, drawing pictures, etc. in order for them to understand what I'm saying. The conversations with the professors are somewhat more difficult. I think I will start working more on specialized vocabulary with them about their area of study-- History, Math, etc. There also seems to be some interest in the pueblo, with the other teachers, or with friends of people at the school who might like classes or private lessons in English. Maybe I'll do some lessons some afternoons and use the money to take Flamenco lessons or something... :)
The other night I went in search of a bar that has flamenco shows every week. After turning down a tiny street, following a graffiti-type sign around the corner and down some small steps, I found the door. It was closed, as it was early evening (siesta time), but they had information about the shows. Sunday nights they have live flamenco or jazz music. Not free, which is of course always what I look for, but I'll probably go anyway. Afterward I decided to do some exploring and walked upwards toward the mountain. (Granada is built at the edge of the mountains.) I took tiny streets, meticulously built and patterned with small stones. Up stairs, around corners. Looking into tiny yards and over tile roofs. The view got better and better, but I didn't stop until I couldn't get any higher. I sat on a wall, one leg dangling over someone's patio, 15 feet below. I could see a good portion of the city: the train station, part of the cathedral, buildings of the university, the main street that runs through the center. It was helpful for orientation. And the mountains... have I mentioned that I love mountains? The sun was just setting, and the evening light was, as always, gorgeous. I sat there for some time, just feeling the breeze and watching the sky. Then I got up and explored the plaza I could see from the wall. The bars were setting up their tables and chairs for the evening tourist crowd, and I walked to the other end, where there was a church. I was hoping it was open and I could take a peek inside, but the heavy wooden doors were shut firmly. So I stepped to the other side of the street and did a quick sketch of the entrance, doors and molded sculptures overhead. I could see that the light was turning more red, so I rushed back to my perch on the wall, now also occupied by several other people. I took a picture of a German (?) family and then turned my attention back to the sky. As soon as the sun disappeared, it got several degrees colder. I stayed a little longer, and then began my windy way down the hill toward home. These are the things I must always remember to do, I thought. Partway home I saw that people were entering a church, and decided to follow. It was evening mass, and the church smelled of candles. But the first thing I noticed was GOLD! Some of the altars built during the baroque era have a lot of gold. A little too gaudy for me, but this one... it was just overwhelming. I wasn't sure what to look at, and I had more than a little trouble with depth perception, everything all shiny and reflective. Intense. I stood in the back and listened to some of the litany, and fumbled my way through part of the Our Father. but didn't stay long. As I exited, the woman who was begging at the door I entered had switched and was now begging at the other door. I guess begging should be another entry entirely... maybe for blog action day: POVERTY. (oct. 15, thanks, Kimberly).
In other news, Maya, the Belgian girl, stayed with me last night (She lives in our pueblo, so if she wants to do anything in Granada at night, she can't get home) and we went to a small latino bar/discoteca. Danced salsa, merengue and bachata, and had a blast. I'll definitely go back. There was even a guy there trying to direct a group in the Rueda Cubana (group salsa dancing), and I recognized some of the moves from dancing with people at Goshen. There were several really good dancers there, and I loved watching them. Feet, hips, bodies, hands, and faces. Dancing, dancing, dancing.

bit o' an update

So, where to start? My last day in Barcelona was a great one-- I went to a Castellers event, at which the batteries in my camera died after two pictures. alas, I cannot show you the tower in all its glory of 7 or so levels. But, it was incredible. At the end, they send two kids (with helmets) to the very top, they (sometimes) pose for a few seconds, before starting their descent back down...practically sliding the whole way down, arms around the bodies of their fellow castellers. They also did towers of one per level. And even sent two girls up a rope to a balcony (see video, found on Youtube: http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=UWFufkeyBBI ) Anyway, quite impressive. In the evening I went to the FC Barcelona vs. Betis game at Camp Nou... awesome!! I went with they guy I was staying with, and some of his friends. Going to a futbol game was one of the things I was very sad about not doing last year when I was there, so I was pretty content. :) After the game, we went to the end of the Merce celebration fireworks, which they set off to music. In front of a huge fountain with colored lights. I went last year and was very impressed. We barely got to see the grand finale, because we were late and there were SO many people there. Incredible. The next day I flew to Granada and caught a bus into the city, where a friend of a friend picked me up. I stayed with him for 3 days, all the while looking for housing, calling numbers, looking at flats ("pisos") and continuing to live out of my suitcases. Sunday I moved in to my new home, which I share with a Spanish guy and a French girl who is here on an exchange program. Hopefully I can learn some french. I don't think there will be much common cooking, which makes me sad after sharing meals with four lovely ladies who cook very well last year... (miss ya'll!!) Its sad to buy groceries for just yourself. I've met a fair amount of people here, and gone out a few times with people, but so far don't really feel like I have "friends." I guess it's only been a week. :)
I went to my school, though, and met all the teachers and the other language assistant who will be working there (from Belgium). Should be fun. The bus to Alhendín takes only about 15-20 minutes, but the stop is about 25-30 minutes walking from my house. Which is fine. I could take a bus if need be, but, I like walking. I had thought originally that perhaps I could buy a bike to get to my school, but I see now that it would be rather dangerous...It's not just a straight rode, but has lots of roundabouts and doesn't seem too bike friendly. So I'll stick with the bus and walking. The last picture is my team, Peixets C"riminales." i.e. there were three teams from Peixets (Barcelona team) at the tournament, so we split into three groups. C became Criminales. It was a fun day. Its a good time to be 22 and living in Spain.