The New Bike!

After a couple months of trying to get my bike shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, Kelly gave up on me being around the house and bought me my 'engagement bike'.  Its like an engagement ring for guys, but waaaay better.  After scouting out some shops we ended up heading out to S'Arenal aka the Myrtle Beach of Mallorca.  It is a super touristy beach area but its popular with foreign cyclists and they have lots of used bikes.

 So we picked up this beauty for a steal of a deal.  Its a KTM, like the motorcycles, they sell bike shere in Europe too.  Its full carbon (actually my first full carbon road bike) with full Campy Record 10 speed.  It also has a Selle Italia SLR saddle, which is my foavorite and was a big selling point.

 When I bought the bike they also offered me a really good deal on some flyweight Campy Neutron wheels, which I took and have been glad I did on the long climbs here in the Tramuntana Mountains in Mallorca.

Deiá

As I sit at a bus stop sipping wine from a plastic cup, waiting for my bus that will be here in three hours (because we read the bus schedule wrong on a holiday, once again) I have to say that Spain, minus a few usual setbacks, is just awesome.  Neither of us have to work on Fridays, so we took off yesterday afternoon to see a town in Mallorca called Deiá . I traveled by bus while Will rode the 20 miles/2000 ft of climbing on his bike. **as I’m typing this two pro cyclists… or what I assume were pros because they wore pro kits and had super clean bikes… just rode past my stop. Maybe I should have taken a picture instead of typing about it. Oh well. Still pretty cool** After 5 weeks of rainy weather, we were very excited to wake up to SUN yesterday morning. I caught the bus with both of our bags and traveled the whole 45 minutes on a tiny bus with loud Spaniards. I don’t know if Spaniards have bad hearing or something, but they all insist on shouting everything they say. Some may call it being passionate… I call it obnoxious and rude when sitting next to someone on a bus. But, the ride wasn’t long and there was lots to see!

 

 

When I arrived in Deiá I had a map that in no way helped me locate the hotel that Will had booked. Luckily after wandering around the windy and small streets for a bit, I found a sketchy yellow sign with an arrow that supposedly pointed to our hotel.

 

I took off up this tiny and steep hill in hopes of stumbling across our hotel… carrying both our bags, passing doors that looked straight out of the hobbit (or what I can only assume are from out of the hobbit because I have never actually seen the hobbit).

 Totally hobbit doors- right?

 

Hiking up this hill made me feel slightly less lazy than Will, even if he did have to ride up the same exact hill not too long after me. When I reached the top about 15 minutes later, huffing and puffing, I found a sign for our hotel… our hotel that most definitely looked closed… but Will had received a confirmation, and emailed them…. So it had to be open, right??

 

Totally doesn't look open

 

So I walked up to the front door and peered inside. I couldn’t see anyone but some friendly looking cats.  They ran up to me and started rubbing up against my legs. So I was pretty happy and content for awhile. Until I realized it was cold out and I still needed to check in. So I set our bags down and pulled on the door. But it wouldn’t open. I tried again, sometimes doors in Spain are just really hard to open, but nothing happened. So I stood there for a minute, petting an adorable cat and trying to figure out what to do, when I looked at the door and read, “push”. Whoops. The adorable kittens had distracted me from realizing that I was supposed to push the door. So I opened it. Success! And went inside.

 

This old Spanish woman came out of a side door **more pros just rode by…. I swear they look super proish. Next time I'll work on taking a picture** So this super Spanish woman looked exactly like my Great Aunt Ray! I haven’t seen her in several years but I swear she did. And Wills never met her so he can’t back me up on this, but just take my word for it. So I feel like I know her as she walks me up to our room.  As we walk, I fumble with our two awkward bags (why did we need TWO bags for one night away??) and she walked me into a room with two beds. Then she got all confused and asked for my name. I told her Will Gillette because he booked the room and then she got even more confused because Will had emailed them to change the name to mine and she thought we’re supposed to have two beds but I was the only person there. With two bags. And I could tell that we were seriously missing something in the Spanish translation but I had no clue what to do. And she kept asking to see my reservation, which I didn’t have because I didn’t think to print it out before I left and I couldn’t get any cell service to pull up the email. And she didn’t understand why I wouldn’t have a copy of my reservation on hand, I guess, because she kept looking at me like I was an idiot. And I kept trying to ask for uno cama (one bed) instead of dos camas but she just kept telling me, I think, that the other rooms weren’t prepared and would be too cold (most places in Spain lack central heating).  But then, luckily, two other women walked into the hotel. And they had reserved the room with two beds and they were wisely prepared with their confirmation printed and so then I was pushed into the hallway. Still carrying my bags, trying to pull up our confirmation, and feeling very confused. And she just checked them in and got them settled in. And then she looked back at me, shook her head, said “uno momento” and walked off. So I waited for a while… still super awkwardly... with two bags… looking around... until she came back, pointed at me, and said Kelly Fischer?? And I nodded quickly and responded “sí, sí, sí!!” and then she muttered something about Marido and bicicleta and I continued to repeat “sí, sí, sí!!” (you can never say sí or vale enough in Spanish). And then she pushed me around and walked me down the hall to another room. Which didn’t have a bathroom or shower, but did have one bed and a space heater! And there she left me. So I assumed she figured it out… because I wasn’t kicked out of the hotel. But the website didn’t say we’d be sharing our bathroom or shower with our hallmates. And before I could go clarify that this was our room, I caught the view out our window, dropped our bags, and decided we’d make it work. Because the view was spectacular and totally worth sharing a bathroom and shower with others.

See the ocean in between the mountains?!

**another “pro” just rode by but I wasn’t fast enough to take a picture… I'll keep trying** I figured Will couldn’t be far away so I unpacked and then grabbed my book and went downstairs to read. I thought maybe I'd go find a market and pick up some wine or beer to enjoy while I waited, but the second I stepped outside, I was attacked by cats and forced, completely against my will, to sit down with one snuggled up in my lap. I absolutely did not chase it around and pick it up, several times, in order to pet it in my lap. So there I  remained, against my will, snuggling with a cat (please don’t tell Ridley) and reading until Will arrived. **he’ll post about his ride later. But I'll tell you that he made it and he made it in good time** And I remained hostage for another hour while he showered and got ready. And then maybe a few minutes longer…

 Totally being held against my will

 Struggling to get away

A look of complete suffering

After that, we decided to hit the town. Off we went in search of drinks and tapas. After wandering for about 30 minutes in every direction, it was obvious that Deiá on a Thursday in the winter does not have much to offer. So we wandered into a café. The only one/place that was open. And ran into the other two (and only other people) women staying at our hotel. And they had heard me speaking English earlier so they saw us, and introduced themselves as Australians! Hooray for English!  We ended up joining them for a few drinks… well one of them because the other didn’t drink and referred to herself as a teetotaler and Will had a revelation that the phrase teetotaler meant “totally tea” and I had to admit I’ve never heard of that before (And I just looked it up and it totally doesn't mean that. You can read all about it here if you're feeling so inclined.  It's actually fairly interesting.)… And before I knew it, it was dark outside and time to start looking for dinner. In hopes that more places were open now that it was darker and later, we said goodbye to our new friends and went off to find a restaurant. Right across the street was the only other place open. So in we went and it turned out to be absolutely okay because it was one of the best meals I have probably ever had. Will had duck and I had rack of lamb. YUM. There's no words to describe this meal, so I'll leave it at that. It was delish.

Leaving dinner we assumed that it had to be at least 10 at night, so when I check my phone and realized it was 8:00, we felt pretty lame.  Most people don't eat dinner until 9:00 in Spain so we were definitely not up to Spanish par.  Trying to be a little more "Spanish" we grabbed a bottle of wine to go and wandered around the deserted town.  Even though the town was quiet, it was well lit and absolutely beautiful.  I have only once seen stars brighter than the ones in Deia and that was in the middle of nowhere, Utah, where humidity is 0.  We could even see the milky way.  And we saw a shooting star.  "Magical" pretty much sums up the entire night.  And the entire trip. 

Our attempt to take a picture at night

**Okay, I finally got a picture of some of the "pros" riding by... thoughts??**

 

And so now I sit on a bench, typing away, waiting for the bus ride home.  The bus schedule normally has a stop in Deiá  at noon.  However, the schedule changes on Holidays.  You would think that Will and I would have remembered this because we ended up killing a lot of time last time we traveled due to a holiday bus schedule change... But we definitely didn't... and so at noon when the bus didn't come, we were confused.  Until we double checked and realized it would be here at 3:01.  So here I sit.  Will and I should be getting in around the same time.  I just received a fabulous text from him stating, "My dearest Kelly.  I have summited puig mayor and now I rest overlooking an alpine lake.  I look forward to seeing you again, perhaps in a train station in an exotic location in Europe.  Love, Your (slightly delusional) Husband."  And by exotic train station, he means Palma's train station, where he's meeting me to grab his bag.  But at least it sounds like he's surviving.  Even if he's partly insane :) 

Puig Major!

Well, now I've passed the good part of two hours (I type slowly) and it's nearly bus time.  I hope everyone is having a happy Spanish Constitution Day (the day that Spain signed their Constitution in the 70's- a 35 year old holiday). 

And I leave you with some other pictures of our awesome overnight.  Among our language confusion, culture shock, kitty cat mania, and travel mishaps, Spain definitely has its perks y'all...

There were kitty cats EVERYWHERE and they were ADORABLE

 Looking down into town

 

 We could hear this waterfall from our bedroom... LOOOVE

 

 

 The magical entrance to the street

 

Don't enter.  Unless you're going to our hotel.

 Kitty cats cleaning each other.  PRESH

 



Will enjoying his Tunel from Mallorca

XO, Kelly & Will

Look, its raining!

Pollenca - Part I

Friday night we went to Pollenca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollença) a town at the north end of the island.  After this guy read the bus schedule wrong, we made it into town around 7pm.  We had booked a cheap hotel in the center of town.  Turns out, hotel rates drop significantly in November and we had this view overlooking Placa Mayor, the main square in the town.

 The next morning we explored around the town and met our roommates, Breck & Aleena, who had taken the bus from Palma that morning.

We went to hike this...

Which looks like this...

And involves lots of these...

At the top of the 900' climb is a small castle/church,

that has beautiful views of the surrounding hills and Mediterranean Sea.

There was a full picnic area on the back (north) side that had even better views of Port de Pollenca, the Med, and the Cap de Formentor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap_de_Formentor).

Cacahuetes de Virginia

Yes, these (actually) world famous Virginia Peanuts were found in Spain.

Bike Shop in Mallorca

Looooots of accessories.

Scotch and ... Pringles?

Why? Just why?

Anchovies=common, Pale Ales=not so much

 Friday night we went out to Loriens, probably the only bar in Palma with a 100+ beer selection.  Spain has several large breweries Estrella, Cruzcampo, Mahou, which isnt surprising for the country with the most bars per person on the planet.  All of these beers, however, are pilsners and lacking in the flavor department (fortunately they are always served very cold and from a tap, which makes up for the somewhat malt-liquor-y taste).

So the chance to get a good beer on another hot October day was hard to pass up.  I had the classic Sierra Nevada, which was my first Pale Ale in over a month!  Kelly had the Red Ale from a brewery in Menorca (the second biggest island in the Balearic's).

Bonus points for noticing that the name of Kel's beer from Spain is in English and my beer from the US is in Spanish...

After enjoying our round, we went out for our 9:30 dinner of tapas.  This came with what may be my favorite starter in Spain, anchovies and black olives.  Anchovies here are really more small, salted fish fillets than the canned mediocrity you get at home.  And the olives?  Well, they are fresh Mediterranean olive, so, yeah, they are all sorts of yummy.

Hunting for Advil

After staying out until 5am on Saturday night, I woke up and was informed that I am getting older by the pounding on the inside of my head.  As I stepped out the door at 1 pm and set of to find some sort of asprin I was reminded by the deserted streets of Palma that this would not be easy.  Sunday is without a doubt a day of rest (or recovery) in Spain.  A suburban subdivision in the States has significantly more traffic, car and pedestrian, than a compact city of 400,000+ in Spain on Sun-the day after everyone goes to the discotecas till some ridiculous hour-day.

My first stop was the largest department store in the heart of the city, El Corte Ingles.  Its a combo Wal-Mart/high end department store; aka they have everything, but is really nice (and pricey).  You need some produce, a new computer, to book a vacation, have a key made, eat lunch, and buy a new 3000 euro suit? No worries, hit El Corte Ingles.

So I went to the biggest and most centrally located El Corte Ingles and was met by locked doors, because, well, because its Spain.  Extremely flustered, I was going to head home when I saw the flashing green cross of a 24/7 farmacia.  I wandered in and proceeded to search for 5 minutes for some Advil/Tylenol/ibuprofen with no luck.

At this point I was stuck in that area between "do I keep looking since my head is really starting to annoy me now" and "do I just go home and sleep all day" when the angles of advertising presented me with a gift.  Carrefour.  Prominently above a bench with a sleeping hobo on one end and two love struck teens on the other was a sign proudly displaying to the world that Carrefour is open on Sundays!

Carrefour, for those of you that are out of the loop, is the bigger, cheaper, French-ier version of El Corte Ingles.  Any department store that has its own brand of Whiskey has been around the block a few times.

So, I hopped on the bus and settled in for the 25 minute ride to happiness.  As luck would have it though, this bus went by the smaller, less convenient El Corte Ingles first.  Which, upon passing, I saw was very open.  'Cuz you know, why would you open the nice, big, convenient one?  So, buoyed by the though of not being on a bus for about forever, I dismounted and strolled confidently into El Corte Ingles where I searched for 10 minutes for FREAKING ADVIL.  So finally I tried to make myself somewhat presentable, focused really hard, and asked a bored looking associate where I could find the ibuprofen, which I was told is obviously only at the pharmacy.

This threw me for a minute because I can get BC powder at a gas station in North, South Carolina (the town, thats not some odd typo) and here it is only available in pharmacies where I had already looked earlier.  Whatever.

Fortunately, there was a Pharmacy close by, so I stumbled across the (still deserted) street, walked right in and asked where the friggin ibuprofen is.  To which the Pharmacist walked around behind the counter, pulled out a key, unlocked a drawer, and asked me something about 400 something.  Yes! I dont know if I need 400 painkillers but whatever, it will save me from doing this again.  So she pulls out a shiny, silver 2"x4" box and asks for 4 euros.  Confused, but no longer really caring what I just bought, we made the exchange and I walked out to examine my purchase.

Apparently I bought 12, 400mg ibuprofen tablets, which I found very disappointing on the quantity side but was pretty excited about on the quality side.  So Ill call it a wash.

And thats the story of how I spent 3 hours on a Sunday!

Hola

Here is a little video of our apartment.  There's no commentary because our roommate was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her!  But it's pretty straight forward :)  The location is great- right above a café, a 10-15 minute walk to the train station, 3 blocks from a grocery store, a 10 minute walk to shopping, and near all the major bus routes.  We finally have wifi {pronounced weefee in Spain} and so life is good! 

I'm home today because my school is having a strike day.  Will's school is too but they still asked that he come in and sit there for 2 hours.  Some schools are more strict than others...

When you walk in you can see the kitchen, then the video goes to our "spare room".  Our roommate's rooms and their bathroom is in that hallway.  Then it takes you through the living room, onto the balcony, and into our room!!

Hope all is great back in the States!  Our trip to Ibiza for Halloween is a no go because apparently the island shuts down between September and June.  Who knew!!

World's Smallest Croissant

As seen during breakfast...

We're still waiting on wifi...We had a tease of internet for 1 day and now, no mas.  One day we will be connected to the interwebs.  One day...

And my bike is 100 miles away in customs.  Spain, please do something quick for once and get it to me!

Still working on wifi...

Our wifi situation isn't completely figured out yet, but we're hoping to get it working smoothly this week with the help of our landlord!  We cannot wait.

As you may have guessed, the strike is pretty much over.  Don't ask me what that means because I'm not exactly sure.  But from what I understand, almost all of the schools are back to work and have started their school year {nearly a month after they were supposed to}.  There wasn't a complete settlement- but the government is going to provide English classes for all teachers for the next two years.   After two years, they will be expected to teach 33% of their school day in English.  Major props to these teachers.

Our first week of work went smoothly!  We're each working in two different schools.  Will works in two schools with 3rd and 5th graders, in both. I'm working in one elementary school and one high school with all different ages.  Not speaking Spanish presents a few challenges, but I'm excited to give it all a try this week.  We'll see how it goes :)

More pictures and details to come once we have internet.  Other than that, a trip to Ibiza for Halloween may be on our horizon...!

First day of work

And I'm nearly an hour early... 

So I'm sitting in a park killing some time. Fun fact: Public parks in Palma have free wifi!! 

 

The nice thing about my 30 minute commute to school is that if I take the bus, it's pretty empty. I mean, completely empty...

Off to get my teach on!! Will had to be at school earlier than me. Can't wait to hear how his first day went!!

Xo, Kelly :)

Back to real life

We’re all moved in!  We love our apartment and our new roommates.  We’re living with two other girls.  They’re both super sweet and easy going.  And fluent in Spanish- which is a BIG help when your landlords only speak Spanish.  Videos and pictures of our new home coming soon.

Wednesday was our first day back to work!  Holy long Summer.  It was orientation, where we got to learn more about the program, meet the teachers we will be working with, and meet other people who are from the US, France, Ireland, the UK, and Australia who are doing the same thing we are doing.  It just shocks me how I am reminded every single day how HUGE our world is.  There are so many people out there who are doing amazing things that I am completely unaware of.  And most of them speak multiple languages…

I think of one the coolest parts of our orientation was that we got to see more of the teacher strike up close and personal.  The director who is trying to implement this new language law spoke to us.  As soon as she was introduced, all of the teachers who are striking stood up and faced the back of the room.  Talk about awkward!  The director continued to share her speech with us in Spanish, English, and Catalan, obviously trying to make a point that she was able to speak multiple languages.  The teachers faced the back of the room the entire time she was speaking and when the director finally stopped {about 20 minutes later}, they all faced forward and sat back down. 

Before we went to break, the director’s assistant asked that we all went up to take a picture with the director.  It was obviously an attempt to make it appear like everything is kosher, but it was very awkward and uncomfortable.   So, it was cool that we got to see everything in action… not so cool that it was super weird. 

We start in the classroom on Monday!  Our official job is to teach English to Spanish speaking students.  The most exciting part of this is that we will be working with ALL age groups {kinder to high school} and bouncing from classroom to classroom.  I am really excited to be back in the classroom and hear all about Will’s experiences too J 

Until Monday we plan on filling up the apartment with the basics, getting settled in, maybe doing a little hiking, and hitting up the beach some more.  Will is anxiously waiting for his bike to arrive, now that we have an official address. 

And we’ll leave you with some pictures of what we’ve been doing… We'll add more when wifi allows!

 

 

 

Checking out the town of Sineu, where one of the schools I'm working in is located.  It's about a 45 minute train ride away.

 

Cheers!  Kelly & Will