Last week was kind of rainy, but we still managed to boulder on Thursday afternoon. Friday Gonzalo called saying he was in Huesca and would come find me when he got done with a meeting there. So I caught a ride to Zaragoza with a fellow teacher and ate a good menú del día while I waited for Gonzalo.

We headed down to Albarracín (Teruel province) to meet up with Paco and Carlitos to boulder for the weekend. As soon as we arrived I spotted Maki´s van, and we met up with Maki (a climber from Alcañiz) and some other climbers for dinner in Bobby´s little motorhome. Spaghetti with fresh picked mushrooms. Climbed all weekend, slept in a dirt parking lot on a bouldering crash pad, and ate fresh mushrooms. The place was packed with climbers. Bouldering is really popular right now, although personally I much prefer climbing routes with a rope. I didn´t get a chance to see much of the town of Albarracín, but I´m sure I´ll be back again.

Monday I went to Teruel with the French language assitant, the American language assistant from Nebraska, and an Australian girl who lives in Alcañiz with her Spanish husband. We had appointments to get our residence cards. Even with the appointment it still took 3 hours of waiting around and I got referred to as the redhead (el pelirojo). Now I have to go back in a month to pick up the card. We didn´t do any exploring so next time I go I will have to explore Teruel. (Andy, I still have the link you sent me.)

Settling in in Alcañiz

So my first couple weeks of classes consisted mostly of wandering around campus with a big map of the United States trying to find the right classroom or teacher who I was supposed to go to class with. Now I´ve given my introduction/lifestory to most of the English classes and am going on to other subjects.

Two weekends ago I went to Rodellar (Huesca) with a few rockclimbers I met here. We were met up there by some other climbers from Alcañiz and rented a bungalow to stay in. I had heard also that Paco and Carlitos (from Valdepeñas area) were up in Rodellar too, but I didn´t have cell phone coverage. Finally one morning on the way to climb I ran into them and it was really good to climb together and hang out.

Last weekend, Gonzalo (from Valdepeñas) showed up Thursday afternoon and we took off for Siurana (Tarragona). We climbed and ate out a bunch and then came back Saturday when we got rained out. Gonzalo was heading up to Graos for his mountaineering courses. Sunday I went to the gypsy church. The acoustics in the building were pretty poor and I had trouble understanding. The music was sung by whoever was holding the microphone (passed around a group of women in the front pews) with piano, and rhythmic clapping from the rest of the congregation. At night I went back to the evangelical church I had been to before and the prayers and sermon were more biblical then they had been the week before.

This week I went climbing on Monday afternoon, I gave private lessons Tuesday afternoon (and will again this afternoon), and then hopefully if the weather permits I´ll go climbing again Thursday afternoon, and I still have to make plans for the weekend.

Home base

My room, now I have a desk in the corner too.

Alcañiz at nightfall

Our Kitchen

the living room

Alcañiz, you can see the school and the red metal building which is right below my apartment

Alcañiz

I had this ready yesterday, but failed to post as I was rushing to a class.

The Flat -inside was recently renovated, IKEA furnished

The Alcañiz Calatrava Castle

My Room-Apartment

The view out my window, boulders on the hillsides, my school on the right

Phil´s return to Spain

I left Chicago (after visiting friends, going to a wedding in Louisville and climbing in the Red River Gorge) on Monday and made it to the orientation in Madrid without any problems. The orientation wasn´t much but with free food and lodging I had a decent time meeting some of the other conversation assistants.

I hopped a bus for Zaragoza on Thursday and met some other conversation assistants, one of whom was heading for Alcañiz as well. It was about a 4hr ride to Zgz. and then another 1hr 40min to Alcañiz. Valentina had already arranged to share an apartment but we shared a cab and I got situated in Hostal Alcañiz. There are two other conversation assitants here as well, Carolane (french) and Kevin (English in the grade school). Valentina is English in the adult language school.

Friday I saw the Instituto (de Enseñanza Secundaria) aka High School and the English director started helping me find a place to live. We ended up going out for Menú del día with a group from the school. Then we went out to the kart track to watch his son but ended up taking a tour of the Formula One track they are building as part of MotorLand Aragón.

Then I went and looked at a living space. Saturday morning after looking around a little more I went and put my money down on an apartment at this space. It is a huge space that these two Spanish guys have renovated into apartments. They live in loft apartments off the main hall. The rest of the apartments (6 or 7?) have shared kitchens (2) and living room. Most have their own bathrooms as well, then there are 3 shared bathrooms off the main hall as well. I just found out I share one of these bathrooms with just one of the owners (his loft doesn´t have one). My apartment is off the living room with a couple others (the rest are down a side hall). It is fairly small but adequate and has a sink so I can brush my teeth right there.

I just got my schedule at the school and I´ll be working Tuesday through Thursday. I also have a bunch of side jobs lined up- individual classes and a teachers´ course. I´ve met some climbers and went climbing yesterday, and am going again this afternoon. I also found one of the evangelical churches Sunday night. They are a small group and the worship service left a lot to be desired. The other church in the area is apparently the gypsy church, so I´ll probably check that out.

Pictures to come soon...