Intense – Like a Circus!

So last week, a travelling circus breezed into this little town of Sweetwater, and set up at the end of my street. It was literally set up overnight, and I couldn’t help but get excited. A real travelling circus!

From the roof of my building, I could see that the circus was a simple tent and about four trucks. No great shakes, but I had to witness it. So on Sunday night, after failing to convince my flatmates to join me, I ventured out alone to the Big Top.

The set-up was simple. One tent, a bunch of patio chairs, dirt floor, and some construction-type railings and fencing pieces. But what a show!! Tigers! Llamas! Camels! Bulls! Ponies! A zebra! And of course, the juggler, the balancing act, the clown, and an inexplicable act that appeared to be a person moving a life-sized doll of two people dancing around the circus ring.

OK, so the llamas, camels, zebra, etc. didn’t so much do tricks as run in circles. And the tigers looked so bored that I probably could have ridden them. To say nothing of the performers themselves – even the 8-year-old hula-hoop girls looked unimpressed. But still, it was more than I had expected.

What was most interesting, though, was the reaction of the spectators. One mother squealed with astonishment at each new animal and cried with laughter at the worse-than-sub-par clown. There was wonderment all around – adults and children alike.

I started thinking about the bizarre parade of animals, and their impact on the small audience, who had definitely not seen creatures like this up-close before. When the camels came out, the woman in front of me was so scared that she picked up her daughter and moved to the back of the tent.

See, as a big-city girl, a trip to the zoo is a de rigeur childhood experience. Being within spitting distance of a polar bear, rhinoceros and alligator doesn’t seem improbable – it’s a grade 5 field trip. But I couldn’t tell you where the nearest zoo is around here, and I doubt it’s a common outing for kids.

So I found myself wondering if the “marvels and enchantments” of the travelling circus tradition could, in fact, serve the purpose to introduce people to new and exotic creatures. Sure, nowadays, people have probably seen pictures in books and online, but to see them live is something else entirely. Animal rights concerns (and there are many) aside, I felt like this little, dusty, roadside attraction actually had an educational impact.

If there had only been a bearded lady, then the experience would have been complete.

Introduction to Aguadulce

So, it’s been a few weeks, and I thought you might be interested to hear a thing or two about the latest place I’m calling home.

The Town

Aguadulce literally means “sweetwater”, which sounds like it would be better suited to a small town in Alabama. Instead, my little Spanish paradise is located 11 km from the city of Almería on the southeast coast of Andalucía, a stone’s throw from Morocco (map here). Aguadulce is basically a resort town and well-to-do suburb. This gives the town both good and bad aspects, as follows:

Bad:
- Since tourist season is past, it’s super-quiet.
- The architecture leaves something to be desired.
- The amount of ongoing developments in the region is astounding (today, as we walked to the nearby town, we counted 26 cranes in the distance!)
- There’s not a whole lot of cultural activity. Actually, there’s basically none.

Good:
- The sea is a 5-minute walk from my house, and the water is swimmable
- It’s easy to walk everywhere – school, the supermarket, the beach.
- The streets are lined with palm trees (actually, date trees!)
- Did I mention the 5-minute walk to the beach?

The Household

I live with 3 other language assistants. They are:

1. Neil, the goofy Belgian, who likes Elliott Smith and chocolate, plays a mean guitar, and makes self-deprecating jokes about his hairy chest.

2 & 3. Suzy and Greg, an American couple who are funny, energetic, and quick studies at card games (I taught them Spite and Malice, and they're hooked!).

As a household, we get along pretty well, and have had excursions to Almería and Granada together, as well as many an evening watching Scrubs and Heroes – we’re even developing inside jokes!

The Work

The school that I'm working in is basically a high school, with an age range of about 11 to 18 or so.

We are working in English classes as well as Immersion classes (Math, Music, Physics, Social Studies, etc.). We're there to help the teachers with their classes and plan communicative activities with the students. This, of course, works better with some classes than others. Most of the teachers seem pretty cool, and open to different ideas.

The nice bonus is that Friday is our day off, so if I want to travel, I always have a 3-day weekend...

The General Impression (so far…)

It’s always hard at first, when you hit the left-my-life-behind-but-haven't-made-a-new-one-yet doldrums… But that moment is always temporary, and I’m already starting to settle in. I've been missing Barcelona a lot, but I try not to compare the two experiences...

Mostly, I've been trying to figure out exactly what my goals are while I'm here, and to focus on those. The two major goals are to travel around Spain, and to gain as much teaching experience as possible. If I can work toward those goals, then this year will be a success…

The Pause that Refreshes...

Hi, there. Remember me? It sure has been a while...

I wasn't really updating because I actually figured no one really read this thing. But surprise! People do. So I guess I should get my ass in gear and start updating regularly.

In an effort to catch up, here is a quick bullet point list of what I've been doing since the last update:

1. Iceland Part 2 -- This was actually the bulk of my time in Iceland, and the indescribable reason why I haven't quite let go of that country yet. Part 2 included a second volunteer workcamp which was great fun, a four-day solo hike through some of the most amazing landscapes I've ever seen, and some travel up the northeast coast, and around the Golden Circle.
2. The Long Way Home -- It took 7 days to get back to Canada from Reykjavik, mainly because I went via Dublin and Barcelona. I got home to Toronto in late July.
3. All Play and No Work... -- In an effort to balance out all the fun I had for 7 months, I launched right back into work for the summer, winding up with a to-do list that was 2 pages long before the first day was out. Trouble is, I was having fun -- I enjoyed the work I was doing, the people I was working with, and the return to a daily routine. Seriously, something must be wrong with me.
4. Friends and Family -- I enjoyed the hell out of my summer in Toronto -- spending time doing some of the things I knew I'd miss (Cafe Volo! Justin Rutledge!). Photos of some shenanigans are here. The only regret: I didn't get to spend enough time with my little sister.
5. West Coast Chillin' -- I managed to get over to Oregon to see my moms for a few days. It was nice and relaxing, and so great to see them.

And last but not least....

6. Escape to España -- In which I made a move to the south of Spain, where I will be teaching English in a secondary school for the year. I got to Aguadulce (a small resort town on the Andalucía Coast) last week, and am gradually getting comfortable. This will likely be the subject of many entries to come.

Well, that pretty much brings us up to date. Now back to your regularly scheduled programme.