Finished!...kind of

That's right, as my dad put it: I'm back among the living. I had sort of electronically disappeared for a few days.

You're all wondering about my exams...okay. I will admit that I didn't do as well as I know I could have because I just didn't have time to study. However, the definitive answer as to how well I did will come next Wed. when the grades come out. I'm sure I passed them all, so that's the good news.

I did have a close call, however, on Saturday morning when I woke up at 8 o'clock for my 8:30 exam! Lucky for me Kristen lives very close to where I was taking the exams. I threw on my clothes and a headband and raced out the door to jump in front of a taxi. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. ;) Talk about nerve wracking... My other exams were less eventful, and the last one I felt really good about because I had just been reviewing the part that came up as an essay question before I went in to the test.

Madrid was lovely...even though I was thinking about things other than sightseeing. ;) I stayed with my friend Kristen and we got together Saturday and Sunday with Adam and his girlfriend, Maria. Sunday we were able to stroll around Madrid a bit before my train headed home. I think the last time I was in Madrid as a tourist (though I'm not really sure this visit can count) was when I was studying in Granada! Needless to say it was nice to walk around and revisit the Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol. We went out for afternoon drinks in La Latina, a barrio of Madrid that's known to be THE place to be on Sundays--things certainly were full. It was really nice to get out of La Roda for a few days and visit with friends.

A view of Plaza Mayor.

Adam, Maria and Me at BarBaridad.

This was the stirrer in my drink... Can you guess what souvenir I brought Angelines from Madrid?

So I took the AVE (speedy Spanish train) back home Sunday evening and slept all the way. Good thing I set my alarm, or I would have woken up in Malaga! ;) Monday morning Angelines and I packed quickly and set off for the beach. With all the extra time that I'd been putting in at school for the play, I asked for Tuesday and Wednesday off from school and so we were able to enjoy a little mini vacation just the two of us. :) What a treat.

We have a friend who graciously lent us her flat in the coastal town of Nerja. It was beautiful weather, and although I've become far too Spanish to wear a T-shirt or sandals in March, there were plenty of guiris (foreigners) who were sporting their summer best...even swimming! Angelines was appalled, of course: "When it gets hot, what will they wear???" ...Keep in mind that it was 77 degrees and sunny.

Tuesday we explored the nearby town of Frigiliana--beautiful! It's in the hills near the sea with beautiful views. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. I have pics on Angelines's cell phone, but I'm not sure how to load them on the computer. Anyway, it was lovely and we even went on a little hike along the river that runs through town--maybe the clearest water I've seen in Spain. :)

I've spent the first half of the week relaxing after my exams. I feel like I've been on vacation forever! It's great. Only thing is it's hard to get back into my routine... We have no break between semesters so my second term classes started on Monday and I really have NO desire to get back into reading.

S0 now I'm back in La Roda and this is what just went by my front door: the Banda de Jesus practicing for Semana Santa. I can't wait. It's just around the corner; I LOVE the music!!

Pancakes and Hot Chocolate...

That's right, Monday I got up and made pancakes for breakfast. How American, of me, right? ;) They were delicious! I was inspired by the sourdough started I have been struggling to make bread with...I decided that lowering my expectations a bit might lead to more success. I guess it worked because the pancakes were great, but they didn't taste much like sourdough and I had to add baking powder and baking soda to make them fluff up appropriately...

Still, here they are and I can tell you they tasted as good as they look!

My delicious breakfast was the perfect start to what should have been a perfect week... However, at about six in the evening I checked into my university webpage to check if my technology professor had uploaded an example of the final that is this Saturday (day after tomorrow). As I'm looking over the exam I come to the part that has essay questions except on this particular exam it asks: write the web address of your webquest in the space provided and answer the following questions about it.

...WHAT?!

My stomach began to churn as I realized that somehow I'd overlooked a term project that formed the practical part of my final exam. Without this project I would fail the exam and failing the exam means failing the class! So with the click of the mouse, my perfect week fell to bits.

Since Monday I haven't slept much. Luckily I opted to cancel the classes I have this afternoon to dedicate myself to studying in my other classes. Last night at 5am I finished my project...needless to say I haven't been able to open my notes for my other classes yet. GULP! All the same, I'm not TOO nervous because as long as I pass the test (5/10) I will pass the class because I have 100% on my work throughout the semester. Still, the idea of passing an exam with a 50% doesn't thrill the H.S. valedictorian in me. ;) We'll see what I'm able to pull together for Saturday...

And with that I leave you! Off to study.

Oh! Have a look at my project: www.examenarte.wikispaces.com I'm pleased with how it came out. I'll explain more about it in a future post...when I've got more time.

scene 1

So here you have it. I have written the Narrators' lines since my camera woman cut them off in every single scene!

Welcome to our performance: Friends of the Forest. This is the story of how a group of school children saved a forest.

We hope you enjoy the show!

Ms. Guerrero's class is on a field trip to visit the nearby forest and learn about a healthy ecosystem.

scene 2

Ms. Guerrero's class had a meeting with the mayor of the town. Together they came up with a plan to help the forest. The whole town has gathered to help out.

scene 3

Five years later another group of children is on a field trip...

The End!

...Break a Leg!!!

Remember the play we were preparing in third grade? Monday was the performance... and this week has been crazy-busy because we had visitors from Ireland, France and Poland at school until Wednesday (thus this belated post).

The show was a hit! We brought down the house and our visitors were duly impressed. The Irish woman commented that they had very good pronunciation. :) I was pleased. Of course, we worked and worked and worked on this... but it really paid off in the end.

The kids were SOOOOO excited because we performed in the municipal theatre--very professional feeling. Their nerves got the better of them in a few parts when they either spoke too quickly or too softly; but these were just minor things. No one forgot lines and our scene transitions went smoothly...if a little loudly. ;)

On Wednesday we performed for the rest of the school, and I got nothing but compliments from the other teachers: it was so well choreographed, the kids knew their lines so well, they did a great job acting, the different backdrops and the music were right on...etc. :) I was quite a happy camper. The truth is that Sarah and I had been working ourselves overtime these past few weeks making props and painting the backdrops...not to mention rehearsing sometimes three times a day! It's always nice to feel appreciated for your work.

Enough chat! Here is the full cast of Friends of the Forest. The blond on the left is Sarah and the woman on the right is the English teacher, Araceli.

This is the dead forest the children find when they go on their field trip. These are our dead trees and the owl who explain to the children how the forest was destroyed: people threw litter and weren't careful with matches. ;)

(Can you tell I grew up with posters of Woodsy the Owl and Smokey the Bear on my bedroom walls??)

I'm in the process of uploading the video of the play to YouTube... I'll post that as soon as it's finished. Angelines came to watch and she recorded the play with our little digital camera. It's not the best quality and it turns out that where she was sitting there was a spotlight RIGHT in the way so it's kind of hard to see the stage... She also cut off the narrators in every scene change! (Guess she shouldn't quit her day job!) Still, you can get the gist of how it all went and you can hear the kids pretty well.

First Signs of Spring

The first cherry blossoms of the season. :)