It's official

For those of you who don't already know, it's official. I am staying in Spain one more year. I will be working in a bilingual school in the city here part time as a bilingual assistant and hopefully teaching some private English classes on the side. Another year of worthwhile debt!As for now, winding down the school year (I can't believe it is practically over already!) Another 2 weeks and we are finished. Thankfully we have a nice big puente before finals week. Actually I think Amanda coined it an aqueduct because we have off from Friday of this week until Thursday of the following. May 1 is labor day and May 2 is the Community of Madrid's holiday and the school decided to trade us Monday for the following Friday so we have an extra long puente, isn't that nice? I am hoping that the weather stays like it has been (mid-high 70's and sunny) because I have plans for the beach and some windsurfing lessons....with my luck that will not be happening and I will be stuck with my computer and final papers/projects instead of flaunting my new and sexy wetsuit.Other than that, not much going on. I went to a wedding this weekend, which was a lot of fun. It was very interesting to see the similarities/differences between an American and a Spanish wedding. This wedding, I was told, was a bit a-typical, however. The ceremony was similar to any Catholic ceremony minus the 10 girls dressed in the same non-recyclable dress and 10 gents to match. However there were no singers/musicians, just your regular organist and the priest sang. I couldn't see much of the ceremony because I was sitting in the back, but it seemed to pretty much be the same as our Catholic ceremony. The reception was fun. A nice cocktail hour, complete with a leg of ham in addition to other hors ordourves. (not a chance I spelled that right.) Dinner was a really good 4 course meal, surprisingly good for 250+ people. There were a few surprises here, however. First, there was no MC, introducing the couple, the parents, ect. There was also no father/daughter, mother/son dance. The bride and groom did have quite an interesting dance for themselves complete with 70's style wigs and colorful lights, but I think that was their own touch. During dinner there was a "crazy waiter" who apparently was hired to do ridiculous things to entertain the guests. Unfortunately my table was in the dark about this and he scared us more than anything. There was also a mariachi band that serenaded at every table...yes the wedding was in Spain, not Mexico. They sang a nice rendition of "La Cucaracha" at our table. Seriously. There were also people with balloons and noisemakers to add to the festivities. Most of these things, as I was told, are not quite the norm. Quite often you could hear a strong "Viva los novios!" (roughly translated as long live the newlyweds) followed by a resounding "viva!" that I missed every time. "Qué se besen, qué se besen!" (a cheer to coax the couple to kiss) and some interesting song/cheers about the bride and groom. These were among the more traditional customs. Later, instead of a dollar dance, they cut the groom's tie and sell it in pieces for the honeymoon fund. Also the bride passes out pins (which theoretically are from her garter) to all the single women and the first to loose hers is supposedly the next to marry (....damn it! where is mine?????) Afterwards, your typical music and dancing to the a-typical hours of the morning. I left at about 3:30-4:00, and that was relatively early! In all it was a fun and cultural experience. Too bad the battery for my camera was dead and I have no pics! (Especially of some of the interesting attire.)