Howdy y'all!

I just rode up the elevator in the dark with my neighbor. Seven stories of in-the-dark awkwardness. Lord only knows why the lights go out in the elevator from time to time. I mean, this is Spain, but one would hope that basic security features of one's building would work. She turned on her cell phone to make it less strange, but I couldn't help but feel that something would go uncannily wrong. Needless to say, we made it up to our floor and here I sit typing my first blog. I figured it was about time to start telling you what life is like here.


I'm back in Badajoz after two and a half weeks of glorious Christmas break--something I thought I might never experience again after graduating a year ago. Nevertheless, I (above right) enjoyed two weeks of sleeping on the floor of my friend Betsy's (above center) London flat, then a few days with Erin (above left) in Algeciras, Spain. Two of our Italian friends, Michele and Enrico, came to visit us in Algeciras, and we took them to Gibraltar and to Tangier in Morocco. We saw the African apes on the rock of Gibraltar and gazed at Africa across the Straight. The next day we took a ferry over there and dined on cous cous and chicken tagine. The Italians passed me their wretched cold, so I've stayed in this weekend to recuperate and work on lesson planning.

My dad's coming to visit next week, so hopefully they'll fix the elevator so that it doesn't look like I live in a dump when he arrives. Hasta pronto!