Last blog from Spain

I can't handle writing about this group or program anymore. Every day there are wonderful moments, but every day there's also a lot of bullshit. So I'll just leave it in my head from here on out and focus on the positive - like the goodness of staff friendships.

I really don't understand Spanish bathrooms.

First of all, there was no toilet paper today (often the case) and then a makeshift hand-dryer plugged into the wall that barely even blows any air. In Spain they don't even pretend that the locks on the doors work. Denise suggested that we start whittling our own holds in the wood to let the lock do its job and allow her to pee without fear of an audience. One servicio today did actually have soap, which is unheard of, but in addition to the main dispenser near the sink, there was another one on a different wall and at least a foot over my head. Now I know I'm a bit on the short side, but this would have been eye-level for someone 6 feet tall. Kind of an odd place for a soap dispenser.

But the walls were a pretty maroon and this place had one of the best coffees I've had in Spain.

Staff game

Colleen and I created a new game to play while waiting for our students to get out of their a.m. classes. Name 3 students and make the other staffer choose who to hug, whose throat to step on, and who to kick in the asshole. Tyler loved our game, so now we're all playing as much as possible.

High school crush

In other news, Nicole overheard a group of guy students saying that one has a huge crush on me. Apparently he's determined to make out with me by the end of the summer. This is both icky and flattering.

Trouble with a student

A bunch of students got quite drunk last night. There is supposed to be an absolute zero tolerance policy here, but that's not how it actually works. Every year students are sent home if they're caught blatantly drinking or drunk, wasting their parents' $10,000+ program money and the college credit they would have earned. We've known that some students have been drinking, but they kept it pretty contained and behaved themselves decently and safely, so we let it go.

Last night we went to a club and there was an incident with one of the students who was a bit more out of line than the rest. The girl had to hold herself up while talking to me, and unfortunately for her, she admitted to me in front of other students that she was drunk. The rest of the details are filed away in an incident report somewhere, but basically it was a really difficult situation for the student and for me. Definitely not the highlight of this trip.

First impressions

First of all, I miss you!

Things here are going pretty well. Actually I should be honest and say that this program has bordered on disaster several times for reasons I don't even want to put too much energy into describing. Organizationally it's a mess, and worse are the unbelievably spoiled and incomprehensibly rude students. Some are among the worst people I've ever met in my life. But there are also a bunch of sweethearts and some super cool kids, so I've decided to give the good ones much more of my time and care than the brats. Enough of that.

Sevilla is BEAUTIFUL and I'm loving every awkward twist in the cobblestone roads, the old architecture and beautiful colors.

My coworkers are wonderful! There are 12 of us from NYC, Philadelphia, California, Minnesota, Chicago and Seville. We all hit it off amazingly well early on and things are still running smoothly most of the time, despite spending 16-20 hours a day together. I'm really glad to have met them all. Our chemistry and communal sense of humor puts a positive spin on what could otherwise be a much more frustrating experience.

Here's a picture of staff: