Morning Routine and Spanish Mistake of the Month

Morning Routine and Spanish Mistake of the Month

I'm sure some of you have been wondering a lot about how my day to day life has changed since being on the islands! I've been working for two weeks now (I only work Monday- Thursday), but now that I have some experience under my belt I thought I would share my morning routine with you all. 

This is the view from the bus stop I get off at each
morning to go to school. 

On work days, I'm usually up by 6:30-7am (about the same, maybe a little later than I got up for work in the states). I get ready and I am usually out the door to catch the bus by 7:30. I try to catch the bus by 7:40. It is ALWAYS dark when I get up and leave the house. We don't really have much of a sunrise or sunset in the city I live, it's more like the sun just appears and disappears. 

Tostada con tomate

For breakfast there are a few options I have made a habit. Many days, since I have been learning my routine I have gotten breakfast at a cafetería near my school. When I eat at the café I always have a Barraquito (Coffee from the Canaries), and I also always have tostada con tomate (toasted bread with tomatoes). They toast the bread on their stove, then they add this tomato paste and some olive oil (imagine using a tomato on a grater, to create the paste). It is so refreshing and delicious. If I get the large toast (which I usually do) the total for this breakfast is 3.40 Euros. 

My homemade breakfast

If I am eating breakfast at home, I usually make toast with white bread, butter, honey, and bananas. It is something I picked up from staying with my host family. A common food for them was bread, butter and honey, for breakfast, a snack, anything really. I added the banana as a way to get some extra fruit into my diet. I like bananas but for some reason I have never really enjoyed eating them by themselves. 

The next thing on my list to try is gofio. Gofio is a local product made of flour. It is grain like and there are a ton of different recipes out there, one of these days I'll get around to trying it. I've heard it's delicious!!

Spanish Mistake of the Month*

*I'm sure there are more mistakes I've made, but this is my favorite.

After training in Alcala de Henares, a group of friends and I were walking back to our hotel after eating some tapas. We got flagged down by a small group of Russian tourists asking us "Do you speak English?". They were trying to get back to their hotel, but they could not find a taxi (they are hard to come by in Alcala) and they didn't have data so they couldn't use Uber. I offered to call them one. I went into a local shop, found out our address and called for them, then my friends and I went on our way. 

Right before the lost vs. fired incident

Well apparently the Russian tourists got into the wrong cab, because the cab driver called me, asking where I was. He wouldn't stop calling me, so finally I picked up. I tried to tell him in Spanish "I'm sorry the cab wasn't for me, it was for some Russian tourists that were lost" (Lo siento el taxi no era para mí, lo era para algunas touristas de rusa que estaban perdidos). What I actually said in Spanish was: "Sorry, the taxi was not for me, it was for some Russian tourists who were fired." (Lo siento el taxi no era para mí, lo era para algunas touristas de rusa que estaban despedidos). My friends had a good laugh, but in that moment I was MORTIFIED. I learned a valuable lesson, and now it's a great story/anecdote that I'll remember for the rest of my life.