and then there was mexican...

So let's backtrack a little. Back to Friday night, my last night in Santander. That night, dinner was one of the only meals we had to eat on our own (and yes, they gave us 50 euros for meals outside of the meals they provided. which were only 2). We decided to try out this Mexican place in town that apparently had a good fixed menu. Let's just say it was one memorable dinner, deserving of its own post.
So we walk in. There is a big room downstairs, but only about 6 tables. The waited seats us at one, takes our drink orders and we tell him we want the fixed menu for 13 euros. Becca orders a margarita, me a Fanta, and we also get a pitcher or sangria. When the drinks come out, Becca's margarita, was, well, small.
Yes, Becca's margarita was a shot glass. What? Apparently Santander-Mexican margaritas are tiny tiny. Especially sitting next to a pitcher of Sangria.
So our table had a view of the kitchen from where we were sitting. Normally, kitchens have sinks, ovens, counter space, dishwashers. Well, not this one. In the part of the kitchen we could see it was, let's just say, not normal. There were kids toys everywhere, including random baloons, a Thomas the Tank Engine train, and a stroller. And on the table, a white baby doll. Naked. Huh? Are we in a restaurant or what? Also on the wall, a bug zapper. Yum!...
Yes, this is the shot Becca stole of the kitchen. She's pretty much a photo-terrorist, stealing pictures of things.
After about 10 plates of food, we are all sufficiently full. But wait, there's another course. It comes out as 3 plates, one with beans, another with rice, and third with fried peppers. I decide to try the peppers. And below are photos of this experience:

Yes, it was hot. Very hot.

But the meal was still not finished yet. At the end, they bring out shots. They call them besos. Yes, the translation for that is "kisses." So we each finished our meal with a kiss, a shot of basically Bailey's cream liqueur. The table next to us left there's, but no need to fear. They were not wasted. Instead, the table behind us sent their young son over to the table to steal the shots for his parents.

And probably my favorite part of this experience was the artwork on the walls. What do you expect in a Mexican restaurant? Painting of ancient civilizations from Mexico or something of the likes, right? Well, those were there. But also, there was a picture of a dog. An ugly dog at that.
So if you're ever in Santander, Spain and looking for a good Mexican restaurant, try out Bodega Antonio's. It's quality. But no margaritas. Or peppers. And don't ask about the white baby.

wait, i thought bilbao was supposed to be ugly?

No, it's not. And I'll explain...
Since the conference technically ended on Saturday morning and our train tickets back to Madrid weren't until Sunday afternoon, I was trying to figure out whether to stay in Santander or make my way somewhere else. In the end, Lisa and I decided to join Katica, Rebecca, Angie, and Baird on a side trip to Bilbao.

Part of the old city by the river. The cool yellow building to the right? Yeah, that's the train station.

Bilbao is a city in Basque Country about an hour and a half bus ride from Santander. After almost burning down the hotel, we set off. The weather when we got there was great, and Lisa and I found a nice cheap hostel in the old part of the city. We then walked around the city, seeing the main attraction: the Guggenheim. It is one of the chain of Guggenheim museums, housed in a great building designed by the architect Frank Gehry. Let's just say, it's pretty stinkin' cool. There is also a massive dog made of flowers in front of it, which of course we got pictures of. While some went inside the museum, I decided to stay outside and walk the city some. Many guide books and people who have been there say Bilbao is an ugly town, but we didn't see it at all. It was really charming, a great mixture of old and new.

The Guggenheim entrance.
View from the back of the Guggenheim, complete with giant spider.
Lisa and I in front of the dog. Again, left my camera in Madrid. So thank you Lisa for the pictures.

That night, we went out to eat some pintxos, the typical Basque food. Little did we know it would be packed out because a soccer match had just gotten out, but we luckily found a few different places to eat little pintxos, basically bite-sized food on a piece of bread. They were pretty tasty.
IThe next morning, I woke up and went for a run along the river past the Guggenheim. Then Lisa and I went to a little market in the main plaza where they were selling used books, coins, and birds. Yes, birds. It was a good morning, but we had to make our way back to Santander to catch the train back to Madrid. But all in all, a great choice was made to visit Bilbao.

The awesome Bilbao riverside at night.

adventures of almost burning down a 5-star hotel

Before I start an amazing Spring Break journey through Dublin, Glasgow, London, and Amsterdam, I feel it's only appropriate to first update on my latest shenanigans in northern Spain. This past weekend was our mid-year conference for Fulbright. Yes, even though it was 6 months into the 9-month program, we are just now having our mid-year conference. It took place in Santander, this amazing coastal city in the northern region of Cantabria. Get together all 70 or 80-something Fulbrighters, and needless to say things are going to be pretty entertaining. Fulbright paid for pretty much everything: the food, the 5-star hotel, the train tickets. Yes, we were treated like royalty, which was nice considering the beginning of the program conference was in a non-air-conditioned dorm in 80 degree heat with nasty cafeteria food.
We left on an early train on Wednesday morning to head up to the conference from Madrid. The journey was long, but the scenery along the way was amazing. Great countrysides, and actual parts of Spain that were green and sunny. When we arrived in Santander, it too was sunny. And warm. Exactly the kind of weather I want in a beach town. They took us to our hotel, which was this amazing 5-star hotel called Hotel Real (royal in English) where we all had some type of view of the ocean.

Our hotel, up on the hill, from the peninsula. Disclaimer: I forgot my camera, so all of these pictures are courtesy of Becca and Vicki.

The tables for lunch and dinner were so fancy, we didn't know what to do. And they continually filled up our wine glasses. Like, always. I hadn't even taken a drink and they filled it up more.
The view from the hotel rooms. Yes, there was a castle next door. And you can faintly see the palace out in the top left corner. Pretty amazing.

The next few days were spent in conferences: some political where asses were kissed about how great the University in Santander was, the Fulbright program, all that fun stuff. In others we talked about our experiences and thing we wanted to see improved with the program. And then there were ones where the Fulbright researchers, the people who are doing a lot cooler things than us here, told us about their cool projects. Then on Thursday afternoon, we took a day trip outside the city to see ancient cave drawings at this place called Altamira. It's a really famous cave area and was neat to see.

Of course I had to have a jumping picture by the ocean.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we didn't have much free time. But on Friday, the day trip outside the city was optional, so we stayed in Santander and went exploring. Vicki, Becca, Tammy and I (Miguel went surfing, passing on our city touring) went walking out to the peninsula by our hotel. It was complete with beach (and a playground slide going down to the beach from the park right above), a palace, a great view of the ocean and lighthouse, and a mini-zoo complete with penguins and seals. It was a great afternoon with great weather.

Vicki going down the slide to the beach in the park.
Great shot, Vicki. You can see the Picos de Europa mountain range in the background.
A good artsy shot of me.
Oh, the life.
Our group up by the palace, complete with the old man taking the picture's shadow.

Then for Saturday morning, when the incident occurred that evoked the title of this entry. So I'm eating our last breakfast at this 5-star hotel, which like every other meal was amazing. I go to get a croissant from the buffet and have the great idea to toast it in their toaster. Here, they don't have a normal toaster, but one where you put it on a belt up top and it falls to the bottom when finished. I put the croissant on the belt and turn away for a few seconds. Becca yells to me, "Michael! It's on fire!" Yes, my croissant had touched the top coils and caught on fire. Without thinking, I tried to reach into the machine and burned a big mark into my finger. Unsuccessful with my first plan, I turn off the toaster and yell for help. Yes, the croissant is still on fire at the point. A lady who works there comes over and starts jabbing a knife at it, breaking it up into pieces so we can put out the fire. After a lot of blowing on the flames, it finally dies out and I apologize a million times before getting out of there as fast as I can. Luckily we were inconspicuous and only a few people saw the incident, although the whole room did smell it.
And that was the time I almost burned down a 5-star hotel.

We'll end with another great jumping picture. Good work, Vicki.

From being a proud parent to having my proud parent visit

With Global Classrooms finishing late on Wednesday night, there was not much time for me to rest up. The next day, my dad made his way to Spain! Some of you may not know how big a deal this was, but Terry Clemons has never been out of the country. Terry Clemons loves Disney World. And jorts. Neither of which can be found here in Spain. But nevertheless, he made his first trek across the Atlantic to visit me. He was only here for about 5 full days, but we made it count.
He was supposed to get here Thursday morning, but his flight was delayed, apparently because of fog in Madrid. When he finally arrived in the afternoon, we hit the ground running. I took him all through the city centre, showed him the major plaza's and Retiro Park, and introduced him to calamari sandwiches (yes, amazingness on a plate). I then made dinner at my apartment: paella of course, a typical Spanish dish of rice and seafood.
On Friday, we made our way outside of Madrid (which Dad compared to NYC) to the small town of Toledo. I had never been there, and always have heard that it is a great example of a true Spanish town. We took the high-speed train there and spent the day sightseeing in the great city, including a ride on a double-decker tour bus. It rained a little and was cold, but it was still a great day in a great city.

Dad and me at the lookout with Toledo in the background.

Now let's get to the main reason Dad made his way to Spain. On Sunday, March 7, we both ran in the Barcelona Marathon. It was my first, Dad's 10th or 11th. So we woke up early at 5:30 am (passport in tow this time) on Saturday and made our way to the airport to catch a flight to Barcelona. Of course, Dad got to experience an aspect of Madrid that many miss: the 6 am metro ride with the Spaniards who are just making their way home for the night, drunk and loud and overall annoying. But we made it to the airport, making our way out of the rainy Madrid into the sunny Barcelona.
Saturday in Barcelona was fairly relaxing, saving our energy for the race the next day. We went to pick up our race packets and buy marathon T-shirts, walked down Las Ramblas (the main pedestrian street in Barcelona), ate some pasta, and saw the Mediterranean Sea. The weather was fairly perfect, showing promises for a great race day. Luckily, the 4-star hotel we stayed in was so nice and quiet and allowed us to get a good night's sleep before the race.

Dad by the starting line of the race on Saturday morning.
Dad's first time at the Mediterranean Sea!

Sunday: race day! We woke up early, made our way the 2 metro stops from our hotel to the starting line, and got ready. The weather was nice, sunny and 40˚, but I was still a little nervous for my first marathon experience. I wanted to run under 3 hours, 30 minutes, which means about 4:58 each kilometer (yes, they do it in km here. which means we ran 42 km). I had a band that they gave me saying my pace times to hit, and I felt ready to do it. I started off so well, keeping with eye-shot of the pacer wearing the 3 hours, 15 minutes pace balloon. We made our way through the city, past the famous soccer stadium Camp Nou, Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church, and many other famous Barcelona sights. The crowd was great, chanting our names which were big and bold on our race bibs. I came through the half-way point at 1 hour 37 minutes, way ahead of my pace time. But when I reached about mile 20, I hit a wall. My legs started to hurt badly, and my spirits kind of dropped. I had to walk some, but still kept moving. With about 1 km to go, I saw the pacer with the 3 hours, 30 minutes pace balloon run past. I knew I needed to keep up with him, so I picked it up for a strong finish. When I crossed the line, I looked at my watch for my finish time: 3:29:49. I did it! My first marathon in under 3:30!
Of course, being done did not mean that the pain was over. I had a lot of trouble walking up the 3 flights of stairs to retrieve my bag of clothes, then just had to lay down in the expo center and try to eat and drink something to feel better. After about an hour of laying down (and apparently looking miserable, as a Spanish couple came up to me and gave me food and drink and put their coats around me to warm me up), I made my way outside to try and see Dad finish. Unfortunately, I left the finish line to head back to the hotel about 10 minutes before Dad came through, at 5:07:38. For only training a couple of months, that was awesome! Overall, it was a great first marathon!

The race start.
Me running along the way. This must have been early, because I'm still smiling.

Me with my medal at the finish line after finishing the race (and recovering enough to walk).
Dad crossing the finish line!

After showering and recovering that afternoon, we made our way up (by bus, of course. no more walking for us) to Gaudi's Park Guell to see views of the city we just conquered. We then went down to Las Ramblas and each enjoyed a fresh-made waffle covered in chocolate syrup and ice cream. Amazingness on a plate. It was a great end to a great day.

Dad and me on top of the city in Park Guell with Barcelona and the sea in the background.

On Monday, we made our way back to Madrid and I showed Dad some more of the sights, including the Prado, the random Egyptian temple, and of course an all-you-can-eat buffet. That night, he got to meet Vicki, Becca, and Miguel at Patatús, one of our favorite restaurants (even though it's where I lost my iTouch 2 weeks ago). Then the next morning it was back to the airport for Dad to go back home.

Dad with Vicki, Miguel, me, and Becca at Patatús.

Although the visit was short, I was so glad to have Dad come to visit Spain and be there with me in Barcelona for my first marathon. It was such a great continuance for the month of March. So ready for all the rest that the month has in store for me!

GC (but not Georgetown College this time)

When those who came up with the old saying "March comes in like a lion," they probably knew how my March 2010 would begin. But of course, not an evil ravaging lion but instead a Simba-like lion who is intense, yet enjoyable all the while. For me, my March lion came in the form of an event called Global Classrooms. In a short explanation, GC is basically a Model United Nations conference that is held all around the world. Here in Madrid, 22 students from each of the 10 secondary bilingual schools came together for a day and a half to debate access to education... all in English. The preparation leading up to this conference encompassed months of teaching these kids about the entirely foreign concepts of rules of procedure and how to write position papers. When the day finally arrived to put into all of the practice into use, let's just say it was "lionous."
At my school, I had been working for months teaching my terceros (third years, the equivalent of high school freshman) what caucuses were, how to write a resolution, and all (well, most) of the other necessary things they needed to excel at the conference. Working with Katica and the amazing English teacher at our school Maria, I really felt like these kids were prepared. And they proved me right.
As it is Spain, the events of the day weren't completely organized and pretty much all work was placed on the back of us Fulbrighters, who were in charge of running the debate and basically leading the conference. I was the chair of a committee (the Afrrican committee, to be exact), meaning I was basically in charge of the room of 60 "delegates" representing 30 African countries. With my great team of Becca, Miguel, and Vicki by my side, let's just say we kicked ass. It helped to have a great crew to work with, but also to have past experience of running fraternity meetings with 40+ rowdy college guys. Our committee ran fairly smoothly, and we made sure the kids were constantly encouraged and having fun while debating.
I was amazed at how great all the kids were. They were passing notes between countries (relevant notes, not like asking for phone numbers or cup sizes), writing elaborate resolutions to solve the world's education problem, and doing it all in English. What?!
At the end of the day, each committee (there were 5 total, of which my students were on 4) gave out different awards. I was so happy to hear that kids from our school won awards in each of the committees they represented. In all, they took home 4 awards: 3 for Best Delegation Honorable Mentions and 1 for Most Dedicated Delegation (aka best hustle: hard work, maybe not the best English). I really was like a proud parent! Last year, our school only won one honorable mention. This year, they won 4 awards! All of their (and mine, Katica's, and Maria's) hard work paid off.
After the day was over, I was glad for a nap and to rest my voice after a day full of talking and encouragement. And now I'm left with the question: What do I do at work now?
And now for photos of the event:

All of the kids from our school dressed up and representing.

Me, Katica, Claire, and Maria. Claire is apparently taking a picture of the picture being taken. She's our boss, and she's pretty awesome too (and British!).
Our African committee room, and (a blurry) Vicki doing her Staff job of passing notes between countries.

Guzman doing some negotiating for Somalia. I really wanted his delegation to win an award, but they were just all so good.
My students, Kay and Diego, representing Portugal.
Emmanuel controlling the room for Kazakhstan. Him and his partner went on to win an award, and now he's in the running to go to New York City in May for free. One student from each school gets to go.
Since I was the Chair, I gave out our awards from Africa at the Asamblea de Madrid, basically the big government chamber. This is me giving an Honorable Mention award to my students Irene and Javier.
Irene with Camroon's Honorable Mention and Miguel with Chile's Honorable Mention. Irene is the other one in the running to go to NYC. They have to interview with the US Council people and everything. But I'm glad we didn't have to decide which of them gets to go.
More of our students with the other 2 awards: Kazakhstan's Honorable Mention and Turkey's Most Dedicated Delegation. I was so proud of Carlota, the girl holding the award, and her partner Alba (to the right of her in gray). Carlota may not have the best English, but she tried SO hard and did amazing.