Packing Report Card

Warning: If you have no care to hear a female babble about clothing for an extended period of time…skip this blog.

To everyone else, prepare for an unreasonably thorough analysis of the clothes and other items I have brought to Spain! Now that I’ve been here for over a month, I think I have a good feel for how well I packed and, alternatively, ways in which I did not pack so well. For simplicity’s sake, I have divided my apparel into categories.

Work Apparel

This was the most important category for me, since the whole reason for my coming to Spain was to work! Knowing this, I packed a good amount of dresses, and nice skirts as well as heels. I didn’t know exactly how nicely the other professors would dress, so I wanted to keep my bases covered. Luckily, the dress code is more casual than I had expected. Some professors wear jeans and Converse shoes to work, while others wear dress slacks and dress shoes. I decided that I'd like to follow suit of the latter. Once in awhile I will wear jeans to work if I wear a nicer top or boots, but overall I think I've mostly kept to wearing dresses. Let me tell you, I went the whole month of October as well as the first week of November without having worn the same outfit to work. SCORE.

Grade: A+

Sports Apparel

This was actually the second most important category for me. I want to keep a reasonably high level of activity while I’m in Spain, so having comfortable work out clothes is essential! Good work out clothes also act as a motivation for working out, in my opinion. Having fun shorts or a cool GWS t-shirt always makes me feel tip-top and thus it affects my work out positively :)

Well, to my dismay, upon my arrival to Spain I realized I only brought 2 pairs of running shorts and maybe 4 running tops. Along with that it looks like I brought my entire arsenal of sports bras, about 10. That shorts to tops to bras ratio is way off. Luckily, after running my first 10K last weekend I got to add 2 more shirts to my collection!

I remembered to bring my soccer cleats (hopefully breaking them out this week!), and shin guards, but I brought no soccer socks. Luckily those shouldn't cost more than 5 euros. As it turns out the running clothes I brought have been more than sufficient, so my packing for this category turned out perfectly for the most part, although unintentionally so.

Grade: A-

Outdoor Apparel

This category essentially includes anything used to keep me warm. I only brought two jackets: one a nicer grey peacoat type thing, and the other a casual brown jacket. Unfortunately, when I want to wear a black jacket, all I have is a thin black blazer. I bought this blazer just before I got to Spain and it has been a GODSEND, but not great for cold nights! Since I’ve been in Spain I’ve bought a new winter scarf as well as a matching wine-colored hat, one of those pseudo beret types. We’ll see when I gather the confidence to wear it in public.

Other than these items, the only other options I have for things to wear over my dresses are a red cardigan-type thing and a long grey sweater. I'm thinking of buying a fleece. Ourense will get no where as near cold as the Midwest does, so a fleece will definitely last me longer here than it would at home. Either way, I definitely need to give myself some more options!

Grade: B

Footwear

Shoes were the most difficult to pack. They take up the most room in a suitcase, but when you need to bring some boots you need to bring some boots!! I brought 3 pairs of heels…none of which I have yet worn (but when I DO finally need a pair of heels, it will be worth having brought them, right??). I brought 2 pairs of heeled boots but can only stand to wear one on a regular basis since I have a 20 min up and downhill walk to work. I brought 2 pairs of flats as well as my Toms, but only one pair of flats gets worn, and the Toms are slowly going into hibernation with the weather getting colder. I have bought one pair of brown flat boots which I wear ALL the time, so they were a good buy. Now I have my eye on some black riding boots. And some fun-colored biker boots. And neutral flats. This isn’t looking good.

Grade: C-

Accessories

I didn’t forget all my earrings at home like I did when I went to Granada.

Grade: A+

Weather Appropriateness

Really as long as I brought an umbrella I should pass this category with flying colors. I also bought a rain jacket and rain boots when I got here. Rain boots are a difficult purchase. I was hoping to buy a pair that were super cute and sassy, but in the back of my head I also knew that I had perfectly fine rain boots waiting for me in St. Charles, and whatever boots I bought here would not make it into my suitcase on my way back to the U.S. So instead of splurging on 40+ euro rainboots that look more like they're made out of leather than plastic, I settled for 15 euro boots in a nice shade of purple. As it turns out, Ourense really hasn’t rained as much as I expected it to, so these items have only gotten used once, maybe twice.

As far as my other clothing, I packed a great deal of short sleeved shirts and shorts that I won’t be able to use until my last month here or so. I think that I was anticipating lots of exotic travel to warmer countries in Europe. Also, the long-sleeved tops that I did bring are no fun! No fun means no wear. So I will certainly have to do some shopping to change that.
Grade: C+

Toiletries
 2 sticks of American deodorant? CHECK. I made the mistake of not bringing enough deodorant when I went to Granada, and thus had to settle for the strange liquid roll-on deodorant found there. It's not the most horrid product ever, but it really really pales in comparison to the American stuff. I only brought enough shampoo and conditioner to get me through the first couple weeks in Spain, so I have since bought some Spanish stuff. While they have some American name-brands here, they tend to cost twice as much, so I've settled for some local brands. I am slowly running out of Frizz Ease straightening products so I going to be out of luck there--if I'm fortunate enough to find those products here, the insurmountable cost will certainly draw me away from them. I'll be more likely to try out Spanish products and hope for the best. Ah also, I am about 3 weeks short in my supply of daily contacts. So I will have to start getting creative with those...or...I will have to start wearing my GLASSES in PUBLIC! Gasp. (...but really...)
Grade: B

Overall

I made use of every cubic centimeter in my suitcases, so for that reason alone I am proud. On the other hand, I haven’t even begun to consider how I will be getting all my stuff home, especially with future shopping trips. I have been responsible so far, buying only essential items like the rain gear and flat brown boots. Christmas is coming up though…and since I will be far away from my family I will have to make up for it all by spoiling myself...

Final Grade: B

This is how organized my closet always looks.

Portugal

Anna and I took advantage of a 4 day weekend by traveling to Vigo, and then to Porto, Portugal! It was our first longer trip so it was a nice little adventure with which to start.

We traveled first by train 2 hours west of Ourense to the city of Vigo. There we found

...very little.

I can't really be one to talk because Ourense isn't exactly a booming metropolis, but at least Ourense is pretty! Vigo is technically larger in size, it seems to have a good number of shopping options, and it's right on the water. It's from this city that you can visit the Cies Islands, which have been called the most beautiful beaches in the world. (We didn't get to visit them this time around because they were closed for the season). Maybe it's unfair to pass judgement on Vigo when it was clearly a holiday also, and maybe I am already quite loyal to Ourense...or maybe Vigo is really just not my kind of place!

We only spent one day there, and then we continued on to PORTUGAL! Specifically Porto, Portugal, a city known for its Port wine.

The first day there rained on and off, as expected. That didn't stop us from exploring the old part of the city, though! Porto is incredibly hilly. Yes, even more so than Ourense. I don't think you can walk more than 50 meters anywhere in the city center without encountering an uphill climb so steep that you want to give up before you get to the top, or a downhill slope that personally made me feel the need to silently cheer to my left knee's ACL (YOU CAN DO IT, LITTLE GUY! YOU'RE STRONG! DON'T GIVE UP, KEEP ON TRUCKIN').

Livraria Lello

We also visited this very pretty library. According to my thorough and completely reputable Wikipedia research, this library has been named by BBC as the 3rd best library in the world. Pretty neat! Some of the teachers I work with have also heard that apparently this library inspired some library in the Harry Potter movies. I guess that's cool for some people.

We had a lot of time to kill before we went out with our CouchSurfing Host, so we took a nice long stroll by the river. It was quite beautiful! Especially the Ponte Luis I Bridge, WHICH, may I add, was designed by the same guy  who designed the Eiffel Tower? COOL :D

Ponte Luis I Bridge

Check that. After further Wikipedia research, it looks like the guy who officially claims the design of the bridge only worked alongside the guy who made the Eiffel Tower. It's all the same. It still strongly indicates to me that the Eiffel Tower/Paris/France is calling my name and wants me to be a permanent inhabitant.

Okay. Back to Porto! Day 2 was vastly distinct from Day 1. We went to the other side of the river where all the wine cellars are located, and proceeded to get some wine tasting in. I'd never had Port wine before, it was strangely delicious! It's a special wine in the sense that it also includes brandy in it, making it more potent than other wines. What I will say about our wine-tasting experience is that I have never felt so sophisticated while consuming alcohol. With our first tour I learned more about wine that I'd ever known, all the while I got to sip on 3 different types of Port. Good deal.


We had a relaxing last night in Portugal. We had done a ton of walking...and probably more traversing of inclines in 48 hours than we'd had since we arrived in Europe. We did some minor shopping and hit the sack.

But. The next day, look who found me...

I TOLD YOU PARIS IS CALLING ME!

Ne t'inquiete pas, mon amour. Je te verrai au printemps :)

Goals

HAPPY NEW MONTH! 

My 2012 resolution was to celebrate the beginning of every new month, and along with that, make monthly resolutions. I went astray in October, but, can you really blame me? I was trying to figure out what the heck I was doing in Spain. 

Well, now I’ve got the first month in Spain under my belt, and I feel stabilized into a schedule. My November resolutions are to 

1. get back to baking [MADE-FROM-SCRATCH PUMPKIN PIE, HERE GOES NOTHING...] 

1. decorate my room (YES I am finally moved in...). Specifically, there is this monogram mosaic project I have envisioned for my wall...we'll see how this goes. Here is a sad picture of how my room was given to me:

I decided it’s also time to take a moment to set some goals for the remaining 7 months here! We did something similar with IES Granada, and I thought it was really neat to look back at your goals at the end of the stay and see how ya did. So I’ve thought of several categories for goals, along with some of the categories IES Granada provided us:

Learn something new:

• FOOD: There’s a ton of things I’d like to learn here, mostly related to cooking. I’d like to learn how to make a Spanish tortilla, Zorza, octopus, and tuna empanada. Homemade croquetas would also be ideal.

Delicious octopus empanada in the front, patatas in the middle, croquetas in the back!

• DANCE: Also, I want to take a dance class. From Granada I learned to be an EXPERT flamenco dancer (lololoolol) but Galicia doesn’t appear to have the equivalent type of traditional dance. However, I have seen posters for Latin dance classes that I would be able to sign up for in January, so that could be fun/embarrassing/worthwhile.
•  
• LANGUAGE: Gallego is quite intimidating, but I think it'd be a shame to go home and not know a few key phrases. So far I've got boa noite (goodnight), hoxe en dia (nowadays), falar (to talk), ano (year), foi (went), tamen (also)... other than that, I just furrow my eyebrows and hope I can catch the general meaning when someone is speaking Gallego.

Continue old hobbies:

• SOCCER:  I have done an okay amount of running since I got here, but I haven’t yet gotten on a soccer team. Truthfully, I am a bit worried that my knees wouldn’t hold up if I were to get into the routine of practicing multiple times a week. But I also find myself getting so anxious whenever I watch soccer on tv, when I come across pick-up games in the plazas, when I watch GWS soccer, anything. I WANT TO PLAY. So it’s worth giving it a shot.

• RUNNING: I kind of mentioned before that I am doing a 10K this month. I’m feeling pretty excited about it. I already went on a 10K run a week or so ago just to make sure I wouldn’t keel over and die halfway through, and I survived! It’ll be a challenging race, apparently there’s a ton of people in this San Martino 10K and lots of ‘em are hardcore. But, I can be hardcore too!!!!  Aside from this race, I’d like to run at least 3 other races over the next 7 months. Hopefully all of them at least 10K. Apart from running, I have only done plyometric exercises once...my big ol' biceps must be dissipating. I actually don't think I'm going to end up getting a gym membership...which is not something I ever thought I'd be saying here! But the fact of the matter is that even if I got a gym membership the only times I'd really be able to utilize it would be the weekend. If over the next couple of months I find that my body is starting to simulate the consistency of the doughnuts I often purchase, well, then maybe I'll reconsider...

• FRENCH: I. MISS. SPEAKING. FRENCH. When we were in Portugal over the weekend (which I will describe in detail in a later blog post) I felt great comfort in the two instances I heard someone speak French instead of Portuguese. I UNDERSTOOD FRENCH BETTER THAN PORTUGUESE. I hope I haven’t lost all that I learned last year. So, I’m hoping to at least get back on this online Busuu.com French thing I’ve done. Also, a lady contacted me who I’d previously asked about French classes. I don’t think I can afford private French classes at this time, but that’s something to strive for!

Give back to the community:

I am struggling with this! I’ve found myself so busy recently, mostly trying to fit in clases particulares at every waking moment. My schedule has stabilized and I’m keeping my eyes peeled for volunteer opportunities. I noticed that my work is right next to a residency for elders, I wonder if I could find something to do there! We’ll see, I just feel the need to find something for sure. I remember at the end of my time in Granada I thought to myself “Wow. I have been granted this wonderful gift of an experience by Spain. I want to find a way to give back.” Still looking!

Career advancement: 

As it turns out, when I come back from Spain I won’t have a job lined up. I’m not freaking out about it yet, but I am aware of a looming deadline for starting the process of figuring out a job or other way to preoccupy my time post-Spain. I have not completely let go of the idea of Peace Corps. By the end of November, I will have enough teaching experience to reactivate my application, so I think it could be worthwhile to do that!

Along with the affinity for the French language that I have mentioned before, I have also not totally let go of the idea of teaching English in France for a year after Ourense. I’m not convinced my level of French is sufficient, but, my desire to learn counts for something, right???? I refuse to go my whole life without having lived in France for a year, so maybe next year will be my time to do so.

Regardless of how either of these applications/ideas go, I need to start looking for jobs in the Chicago area by February. EEK. JOB. REAL LIFE.

Travel: 

I have a fairly humble goal of visiting 3 new countries during my time in Spain. My focus is to maintain most of my travel within Galicia. I want to know all of Galicia like the back of my hand! I’ve gotten the chance to see lots of countries while I was in Granada, but I did not get to know Andalucia as well as I should have. I have no excuses for not knowing all of Galicia by the time I go home next June. 

We recently made a trip to Lugo, a city in Galicia. It was a nice little visit, and it propelled me onward in reaching this goal of getting to know my local area first and foremost! Here are a few photos from that trip: 

The wall that surrounds the inner part of Lugo

lol.

Cloister of a museum we visited

Pretty Cathedral!

Money/Budget: 

This. 

This is tough. 

I think I have been doing okay, I haven’t made any huge shopping purchases. But boy have I been ready to! We make 700 euros/month and my goal is to use only 500 of those euros and save the other 200 for either longer trips or, just money so that I am not dirt poor when I go back to the States. I have been keeping an excel spreadsheet with all my expenses, which is certainly helpful but at the same time depressing to see all the money it's necessary for me to spend! The plus side of the spreadsheet is that I am also keeping track of the money I make from clases particulares, and that amount always puts a smile right back on my face.

Diet:

I've maintained a very rigorous diet my whole life, always picking the stalk of celery over the cream-filled pastry...

NOT.

Sorry, dear body of mine, but I am in no way going to suppress my desire for trying any and all food (and double that amount of desserts). So here's hoping I stick to my work out goals!

I will keep adding more goals to this list, I think. If anyone has any suggestions as to some other goals I am all ears!