Tribute to the BShaks

Being in a far away country has made me reflect who I am in relation to this gigantic world that we live in and my small little town of Western Springs. Skyping my family yesterday made me reflect who I am in the BShak fam. I have realized how much I love, appreciate, and miss them all.

Each of of them is an inspiration and role-model to me in each their own way. I am who I am today with the help, nurture, and guidance of my family.

I wanted to share a little something of what I appreciate about each of them.

Dad- youve helped shape my walk with Christ and form me into the confident woman i am today. you inspire me to live life to the fullest. and of course, youve helped me become the great shopper of deals. :)

Mom- you inspire me to be a kinder and more caring. Youve taught me to enjoy the simple, small things in life and take every day as a blessing.

Jeanette- your wise words and wisdom never fails. you challenge me with my self awareness and growth. you inspire me to stay active, and enjoy enjoy those activities.

Julie- you inspire me to be more gentle. you have great advice to each situation. you inspire me to live a more organic healthy lifestyle taking care of myself, focusing on mind and body.

Mark- i appreciate your passion for politics, world issues and justice. you make me want to learn and grow more in that worldy subject. your quirkiness brings a smile to all of our faces, especially in the way you organize little things.

Susan- youve been by my side through thick and thin. you challenge me to the be the greatest alice i can be, staying an independent and strong woman.

All of you have been an inspiration for me to travel, as all of you have studied or live in another country. Youve helped me see the world in a new light. Youve helped me become self less. You all inspire me to love and appreciate the great outdoors. You you inspire me to live life to the fullest, take advantage of every day. You challenge me to take advantage and pursure my hobbies.

I love you all.

Every day a saturday

There comes a point in travel when the sites, places, and other majesties you are seeing or visiting seems insignificant compared to what you are learning inside about yourself and others. Travel is about seeing yourself in another light and opening your eyes to a new world.

If you need inspiration for travel, there are a few good independent movies that will get you in full mode.

In the movie, "Last Stop for Paul", two guys set out for an adventure in search for answers while sprinkling ashes of their dead friend, Paul. This leaves them quitting jobs and leaving friends and family at home. They travel around the world with the full moon party in Thailand being their inspiration for the journey. They meet crazy people and embark on crazy adventures along the way. What they saw and did does not compare to what they learned about themselves and each other on the journey. A Map for Saturday, a movie that follows people who interconnect with each other around the world. A trip around the world, every day feels like a saturday.

Being here in Spain, I almost feel like every day is a Saturday. Even though my commute is about an hour and a half one way, its a job that doesnt use much energy or mental thinking. I use what i have known my entire life, English. Even the smallest thing I do or say in the classroom can bring a smile to a childs face which brings me back to one reason I'm there...

Teaching moments

As i sit next to the desk students with them helping with their clay creations, I cant help but to wonder what my job title, the language and culture assistant actually means. apparently, these schools apply for a grant to have a bilingual assistant in there school (thats us). the job consists of simple actions we do alongside the main teacher who still plans and organizes the lessons and takes care of classroom management.

So you might wonder what my job consists of: I help with my 3 assigned classes- art, english, and science. some jobs are: repeating or summarizing the lesson to the children in English, pronunciating words in English, and walking around and helping them with the worksheets or art project in English. I havnt had tomake any worksheets, power points, or plan lessons yet. Im sure that is too come, they just havnt needed it yet because they use a lot of workbooks.

In art class, they have been coloring. so, ive been teaching them basic words in english like colors, pencils, and other art materials. In science, they are learning about the body parts. So, we sing songs like head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, and play games such as simon says. In english, they are learning numbers, colors, date, and weather. So, we go through those each day.

Easy enough.

(Im excited to plan a lesson about halloween, autumn, leaves changing, haunted houses, pumpkin baking, and other fall festivities which is non-existent here)

Basically, I am there to represent the English speaker. This is a bilingual school, they they want their kids to leave being immersed in the english language while learning their basic lessons.

Floating in the city

There was an unexptected, un-planned, yet pleasent reunion in Malaga with the CIEE 2 week immersion group. Laura, raquel and i decided to visit Malga, a city on the beach, for the weekend. we stayed with fellow CIEE teachers who openly hosted us.

The 3 of us headed out for the bus station in the 7 o clock hour to make the 8 am bus. When we arrived in Malaga, we were reunited with more CIEE teachers and decided to start our day ahead which included the Picasso museum and a visit to the Alcazaba. People in Malaga are proud because the artist was born here. The museum was filled with classic and temporary artwork from the famous artist who lived in Malaga until age 17. personally, his art work doesnt intrgue me, but to each their own. It was fascinating wondering around the museum guessing what the titles of the artwork is, because they are as simple as "women" or "women lying nude."

After the museum, we headed to Alcazaba, a Morrish fortification built in the 11th century to serve as a palace to the governors city built on a hill overlooking malaga. it was a beautiful walk that winds up through landscaped garden filled with ornate fountains, flowers, and vines.

To fill our tummys, with a recommendation we went to Noodles, an asian restaurant in which we had plates full with noodles, chicken, beef, veggies, or pad thai. It was the perfect meal. The rest of the night consisted of CIEE teachers hanging out at a friends house, catching up, sharing stories about our teaching, house, and travel experiences. We went out in town after trying a fro yo place in which mine was topped with nutella and oreo.

Saturday Laura and I took a day trip to Nerja with some new friends. Nerja is a stunning beach with the rugged coastline and mountain backdrop.

Before the beach, we went to the Cuevas of Nerja, which are one of the mostimportant pre historic archeological sites on the Mediterranean. They are apart of the Sierra Almijara mountains with the pictuesque surroundings of typical meditteranean villages. they are some of the best caves in the world with breathtaking fascinating caves underground that contains the worlds widest column, 32 meters high and karstic cavities formed by an errosion of marble by water. Being in there felt like we were in a whole new world, a new dimension.

Sunday we headed to a flea market, which proovd not so great and then a lazy day at Malagass urban beach, Malagueta in the center of town.

We made it too late to take the faster bus home (2.5 hours) so had to take the 4 hour bus home. little did we know, there was a bathroom on the bus, which turned into an adventure. ill just say it ended with a lot of laughter and spanish eyes staring at us...

Living and learning

"Are you learning about yourself? God? others?" asked my oldest sister, Jeanette.

I've have been here for about a month so its a good time for reflection.

Since being here, ive realized a few things about myself through various conversations, interactions, and daily life. A few friends and I were having a conversation about our decision to partake on this adventure. We concluded that it’s not normal for someone to embark to a foreign country for a year-long adventure. It consists of leaving behind friends, family, boy/girlfriends, job offers, a chance to start new and exciting careers that we’ve worked 4 years for, give or take, and everything else at home including the comfort, stability, and culture we have grown to accept as the norm. All of us that chose to do this have a certain characteristic that other people don’t. We were willing to give up everything at home, live in a new place, make new friends, and start a new job. We have a strong passion for the unknown and are willing to take chances beyond normal measures. We did not want to graduate from university and start our 9-5 job.

We wanted more in life than that.

Since being here, I think myself and my friends here can all agree this is the best decision we have made.

Summer in the city never fades

Rota/Cadiz Weekend Trip

During the 2 week immersion courses and orientation week, there is time and opportunity to become close with the other auxilaries. however, after the 3 weeks together, we separate into our towns that we were placed in to teach. my good friend carrie was placed in a beach town called Rota, a 30 minute ferry ride from Cadiz. Last weekend, Laura and Raquel and I decided we missed Carrie and needed a weekend getaway to see her.

The night before, we decided to go out to a dance club where there were free salsa and bachata lessons. We decided not to look at the bus times until the morning. We didnt know what time the bus left going to bed, which we realized was a bad idea. We awoke on Friday morning, looked at the time and it was leaving in about 30 minutes! The next bus was in a few hours. We wanted to get there in time for some nice beach time, so we rushed and rushed. we thought we wern’t going to make it, but we beat time. With 30 seconds to spare, after a quick cab ride, we stepped onto the bus smiling with joy.

Rota is a very interesting town in Spain. There is a navy base, so a lot of Americans are placed there. It almost felt like i was not in Spain. The restaurants had an english menu almost everywhere we went, there were lots of restaurants with american food, and a lot of people spoke english. this isn’t necessary a bad thing...just very very very different from Sevilla.

Carrie’s flat was amazinggg. An amazing 3 blocks from the beach, half wrap around porch, and flowing sunlight in her apartment, it beats our large flat on Asuncion. (I only think so because it’s close to the beach..my love!) I felt like I was in a resort. She even had a coffee machine, which I joked is a luxary for me here in Spain. We dont have a coffee maker yet in our apartment, and buying it every day adds p (although Spains coffee is very good)

The whole weekend was delightful from the lazy days on the beach, a Rota holiday that included a parade concession and colorful carnival. A highlight of the weekend was most definitely stuffing ourselves at an asian buffet. We each had about 4-5 plates each, we left sick to our stomaches we ate so much. it was delicious though! The buffet started with an array of fruits and vegetables, including the fruit leche, which I dont have at home, sushi, breads, salads, and sauces. Then, there was the hot appetizers which had rice, noodles, fried chicken, and other asian and american type appetizers. Then, for the main entree you choose how ever much meat you want and vegetables (like a mongolian BBQ) and bring it to the guy who will then cook it before you eyes after you choose a sauce. It was as if we hadnt eaten a real meal in a month!

The weekend also consisted of Spanish tapas over looking the ocean, pink sun set and sky, and a ferry ride to Cadiz. Cadiz consisted of a day of exploring the whole city of Cadiz, the most delicious tapas at a restaurant including goats cheese with a warm blueberry sauce and little fried cheese balls with a coating of warm honey spread. There was also a beautiful park/garden with shaped trees in a spiral, fake waterfall, and colorful flowers.

We had a great time catching up with Carrie, getting to know her irish roomie, Barb, enjoying a new fresh setting, laughing together, making new memories, and wondering how we became so lucky to be here in Spain in this moment...

Blue sky and simple life

Last minute decision, and not a hard one, lead me to a day trip to Parque Nacional Donana and Matalasica Beach.

Donana park is one of the most privilaged, well-preserved, parks in Andalucia. It has hundreds of species of birds, but wen we went, there wern’t a lot out. People come from all over the world to this priveleged park. During a certain time of the month, there is a pilgrimage when a million people gather to the town and participate in rituals and enriching activities that balance the soul, body, and oneself. Its quite interesting.

Some highlights of the day included seeing cork trees, a beautiful bird lagoon, and met a famous dress maker specializing in courtur dresses in the flamenco business.

We swam in big waves, tasted the salty ocean on our lips, and enjoyed the soft sand. It was a delightful day in southern spain.

Marvel and wonder

I found myself at the top of the great Sevilla Cathedral. after the quite long trek upwards, we stepped first foot on top of 345 feet and stared into the majestic city of Sevilla.

Its the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest cathedral in the world! It was completed in the 16th century and you'll never guess who was buried here?! -- Christopher Columbus.

It made me ponder how blessed I am that God gave me this opportunity to be here.

The sweetest thing

All of the workers at the tiny yet charming Hotel Veracruz in Utrera are exceptionally nice and caring. they go beyond simple actions to make sure the stay at their hotel is brilliant. its a nice thought knowing people that dont know you can act this way. it makes a positive impression of this world.

new fresh colorful flowers on the breakfast table and lamp stand every morning, an offer of help every time i walk to the door, a galore of options of fresh fruit in the afternoons, and smiles are contributions to a great stay here.