So, Mallorca...if you've been following my blog, you know that Mallorca is one of the Balleric islands off the East coast of Spain, famous for its pearl production. It also the home of Rafael Nadal, and if you followed the Australian Open you could probably guess that things were a little crazy there this weekend (translation: Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open and is from Mallorca, although not Palma where we were staying. Everyone was really excited that he represent the Balleric Islands so well). Anyways beyond pearls, there is not a whole lot to say about Palma. This time of the year it is mostly filled with retired couples and not very many young people. But it was a nice way to get away for a weekend and enjoy a different part of Spain.
I left my apartment at about 7:15 to get to the airport by 8 or so. We checked in with RyanAir and borded our flight with no problems. I fell asleep for the majority of the flight and woke up to our plane landing. Once we got through the airport and found our hotel, we walked around our part of the city to have lunch. We wanted to get into the main part of the city, and asked the lady at our hotel desk how to do it. She told us that any bus we get on will take us right into the city, so we got on a random bus and started riding. Not looking at which direction it was headed, we were soon forced to get off because it reached the end of its line after about 3 stops. So we had to pay again for about a 20 minute bus ride to get to the other part of the city. Word to the wise: jumping on a bus (normally) can give you a great view of a city or town quickly and spark your interest to go somewhere else later for a relatively cheap price (for us about 1 euro).
After taking the bus to the other end of the city, we found an old cathedral and toured it. It was really pretty, and it had this really cool outdoor fortress-type-thing around it. Of course I forgot my camera on the first day so I dont have any pictures. After the cathedral we walked around the town some more, found some gellato (SO GOOD) and finally after about 2 1/2 hours made our way back to the hotel. We stopped by a grocery store to buy some food first and then hung out for awhile in our room to nap and relax. That night we went to a bar right next door to our hotel and sat there and talked for awhile as well.
Saturday morning we decided to apply our same logic about public transportation to that day's adventures. Our goal was to find the contemporary art museum in Mallorca. We didn't know exactly where it was, but we knew it was in the city. We decided to get on a different bus to try to see a different part of the city. So we got on the #28 bus and started riding it for awhile. At some point, my friend Caroline decides its a good idea to get off and figure out where we are with our map. We get off, look around, and soon realize that we are in the ghetto of Mallorca. Like the 'hood. I sat down to figure out with Caroline where we were, and (according to my other friend Ally) in that short time she saw about 3 different drug exchanges. So we quickly crossed the street to get back on the bus to take us back in the other direction towards Palma where we were yesterday. We got out of the ghetto and eventually found a tourist office where we got directions to the art museum. The museum was just opening an exhibit about animation, and basically showing everyone how a story goes from a story board to a 3D experience. It was pretty neat. There was another exhibit by an artist that I don't remember, but he used a lot of natural elements in his artwork to show perspective very well. Afterwards it was time for lunch, so we rode the bus again (this time not getting stuck in the ghetto) and ate lunch, shopped (I bought a very European-looking coat. I feel much more like a native here in Madrid with it on) :) and then went back to our rooms. The rest of the day was spent hanging out on the beach or at the same bar we went to on Friday. It was a nice break from Madrid and a good way to get out of the city.
This is the cathedral that we visted on the first day...very pretty
This is ultimately why I loved Mallorca. To my right was the sea....
...and to the left was mountains. I was going to put a picture here, but for whatever reason it wouldn't work. I'll try to put some more up later, maybe when my internet is working better :)
BUT tonight was also my first ESL class! My friend Ally and I are co-teaching it, and it was a little difficult to plan a whole lot before hand because we didn't know how much English they spoke. We started the class by introducing ourselves, and asked the students what they wanted to learn. Topics included movies, food, traveling, furniture, politics (?), weather, and the environment. We started off by trying to explain movies but quickly realized that we don't know enough Spanish phrases about movies to explain something to them if they can't understand us. So we switched to food, which is always a winner :) We named different fruits, meats, and vegetables....trying to explain to 30 Spanish adults how to pronouce "vegetables" is no easy task- the 'g' is soft, the 'e' is silent, it is just crazy. But we got through it. We ended by playing pictionary with food names and then reviewed the alphabet before the left. I have a better feeling now for what they know and what they should learn, so I'm looking forward to next week.
That about brings you up to date! I don't have any plans for this weekend, which will give me a lot of time to rest and finally get over this cold that I've been fighting for like 2 weeks. Then the week after I'll be heading to the Basque country of Spain to attend a retreat centered around Ignatian Spirituality, which I'm really excited about! ANDDDDDD my dad and brother are coming to Madrid that weekend! It will be so wonderful to see a familiar face around here, and I really can't wait!! :)
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