Just kidding. But really, this house is for sale in La Moraleja, Madrid, and it could be yours for only 15 million euros! Idealista.com just published a list of the 88 most expensive houses they are currently advertising. Check it out! The most expensive house is in the Balearic Islands for 18 million euros. Joder.
This has been a really nice, tiring week. On Tuesday, my friend Jessie and I went to see Future Islands at a club in North-Central Madrid. I just saw them in Raleigh during Hopscotch in September, and that club was completely packed--apparently it was one-in, one-out by the time they started playing. Not surprisingly, the show was set to begin at 9pm but got pushed to 1030pm because Real Madrid was playing in town (across the street, no less) against AC Milan (final score, 2-0 Madrid) so Jessie and I went to a bar around the corner called Klippers for a drink before the show. Moby Dick, where they played, wasn't packed, but it was certainly full. There didn't seem to be too many people there who knew the band, but I wasn't the only one singing along!
The kids at school are really starting to respond and I can tell that a few of them are actually understanding the words that I teach them. I'd hoped to avoid having "favorites" but there are definitely a few kids that I enjoy working with more than others. I also get along very well with my teacher, María. At first I was a little nervous to work with her because she seemed very serious, but in the past few weeks we've worked out a good system and we are able to laugh with each other when we have a little downtime. I am also getting along well with the other assistant, Jennifer. We get to chat during recreo and on the bus to/from Madrid/Torrejón and discuss how things are going in our classes, since we never actually work together except for special events.
On Wednesday, all of the first and second-grade classes took a field trip to see La Flauta Mágica at a nearby theater. Jennifer and I got to go watch the play with them, which was of course entirely in Spanish, but very easy to follow and of course none of the words were too complicated. I hadn't even thought about that because I am so accustomed to only speaking English with my classes, so it seemed very strange to go do something with them in Spanish. The play was weird, but it was a semi-opera, so all of the characters sang at one point or another. The kids went crazy there, shouting at the stage constantly... I just sat with the other teachers and enjoyed a few hours of sitting in a comfy chair while the kids were entertained. We got back to the school right at recreo so all of the teachers retreated to the lounge for break time, and I inadvertently ate empanadillas with tuna in them. Boke. But fortunately today there was a tray of different types of ham (very important in Spain, as my friend Meredith eloquently writes in her blog) and cheese to be put on baguette slices. Also in school today the students made pumpkins using orange paint to decorate the classroom for Halloween and somehow I ended up with orange hands and spots on my clothes, despite never painting anything!
Hmm, what else? During my session with the 4/5 year-old class this week, a teacher came into our classroom asking if my teacher, Sara, would help her look for a missing boy from the 3/4 year-old class! She agreed and asked if I'd go watch the 3/4 year-old class, but they haven't learned any English yet, so I finally had a chance to speak a bit of Spanish with some incredibly cute little ones. And the missing boy? It turns out he followed the wrong class inside after recreo and was enjoying a second music class that day.
Mom is hoping to buy her ticket out here for Christmas soon! I am so excited! It is going to be cold at Christmastime, so we might take a trip elsewhere for a few days... the only problem is that we want to go to even colder places like Germany and Austria to enjoy good beer (almost non-existent in this country) and reenact The Sound of Music. Heh. I don't have any big plans for the weekend except for maybe visiting the railway museum and making a few stops on the free coffee day in honor of Fair Trade month. Un beso a todos!
