I stayed at a hotel in Madrid, and I will do so in Granada as well. But here in Cordoba I have rented an apartment for four nights in the barrio of San Lorenzo. There are two churches that vie for supremacy on this street: San Lorenzo and the Corazon de Maria. The street we…
Author: Kate Tabor
English teacher in a JK-12 school
Cordoba – now it’s all new
I have arrived at my apartment in Cordoba. It is lovely. I will write an entire post about it later; there is a lot to say. But to begin, it occupies three sides of the upper part of this old old building, essentially one room on each side. The taxi ride here was a series…
Madrid – starting to feel familiar
I finally am sitting down. I am on the Ave, the high speed train to Cordoba. It’s just past noon and I am sad to leave friends but excited to begin exploring Andulacia. The train takes no time, less than flying I am sure 1:45 minutes from Madrid Atocha to Cordoba. Madrid was a whirl….
We’ve Got to Get Ourselves Back to the Garden…
So, all the sewing had its opportunity cost (not in a bad way – that’s just the way of it); that, and the rains and cold weather of May made it impossible to either mow the lawn or get out and plant. I did have a tiny window and put in mesclun and Hannah ad…
Foreign Words and Phrases for 100, Alex
Yesterday I asked my students for two things: a book to add to my summer reading list and a word or a phrase in Spanish that they thought I would need when I travel to Cordoba and Granada next week. The book list will be up soon, but here is what they think I should…
Mastery
I have been sewing lately. My niece was recently married and her bridal party was quite large. Traditionally in our family we make the dresses for a girl child’s wedding – starting with my cousin’s wedding in Texas in 1983 or ’84 when the bridesmaids made their dresses. When my sister married, I made my…
Trust Your Ideas
“I’m worried. Can you read this?” As a measure of how little students trust themselves and their ideas, this is the question that I got today from a thoughtful student. This summer I wrote about fear in the seventh grade classroom. Yesterday I heard that fear in the room, I heard my voice rising in…
Getting Started On My Other Summer Project
The Garden! Wow, has it been cold. Like 15-20° colder than our usual April temperatures. But still, this has not stopped us from garden planning. Hannah and I did get peas in the weekend after St. Patrick’s Day, and they are finally up. The curly leaf parsley has overwintered for its second year in a…
Making Connections
I am going back to Spain this summer. While it is true that I have fallen in love with Spain, this visit will find me pursuing curriculum. In my visits to Madrid I have been fascinated by the collision of the three major monotheistic faiths in Spain, and my attention has been turned to Ferdinand…
Seder Light
Last night we had Passover seder. Although I was raised a Catholic, my husband is an Ashkenazi Jew, and we have made a seder every year that we have been together. Last night we sat 16 at the table. It was cozy, without a doubt, but festive. Three times last night tears came to me,…
Another Travel Anxiety
It’s not enough that my travel anxieties include which train, what car on the train, what bus, what money, keys, passport, food, and yeah…. I have laundry anxiety. What is the laundry line etiquette? What if I drop something (we are on the 5th floor)? Do I use all the lines? Can I leave it…
How Small is the World?
Pretty darn small. Let’s just acknowledge that the earth is a tiny planet full of organisms that we recognize or we do not. And when I recognize a plant or a bug in my garden, that is one thing. All those faces in the world: those that I do not know and the ones that…
Living on the Lip of Insanity 