Leavin' on a jet plane!

Well, who knew next time would be so soon.  Hmm.

At any rate, we are on our way to Madrid!  We made it through Tampa, are currently sitting in the Charlotte Airport (it's supposed to reach 102° today in Charlotte...ewwww), and will be boarding for Madrid here in a little under an hour.

I should clarify some things here.  When I say "we," I'm not referring to Zorilla and me (though he is a handy travel companion, if for no other reason to freak out the people near me), I am referring to my parents, and two other family friends, Kathy and Bill Ayo.  They will be here for the next week with me before my program begins, when we tour Madrid, Toledo, Lourdes (France), and Pamplona.  More on the itinerary later. ;)

In other news, I have come to the conclusion that if in fact, by some freak chance, I should reproduce, my children don't stand a chance:  there will be NO escape from my camera.  We haven't even gotten on the flight to Madrid, and I've already taken 8 pictures of Zorilla.  Maybe my dear friend Darci was onto something when she said that I have more photos of her in her four years of college than her mother has of the rest of her childhood.  Alas...

Anyway...enjoy the photos, and Spanish lesson #2!

Airport stuff:

Aeropuerto--airport
Aduana--Customs
Maleta--suitcase
Equipaje--luggage (reclamo de equipaje:  baggage claim)
Pasajero--passenger

Meet SK and Zorilla and your first Spanish lesson

¡Hola!  Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Well, I am Sara--the "Sarabarracuda" in the title--and I am on my way to SPAIN!!


Yep, I'm a Spanish teacher, but if you're here because you know me you already knew that.  I am going to Spain on a scholarship from SCOLT (the Southern Conference on Language Teaching) and the Spanish Embassy.  I'll be based in Bilbao, which is in the northern part of the country.  Sunny Spain, sure, but keep in mind it's roughly on the same parallel as Wisconsin...so it might get a bit chilly.  The "Sarabarracuda" comes from a nickname that my parents have for me.  Apparently I was a vicious child...and apparently some things don't change...but all the same, I still think it's a step up from the "Monster Baby from Hell" moniker that they originally gave me.

Now onto this Zorilla character.  I'm not talking about the super-stinky African weasel; I'm talking about the Rays utility infielder, #18, Ben Zobrist.  Unfortunately, the actual Mr. Zobrist has a job to do this summer--like take the Rays to the play-offs (ohpleaseohplease), but I am taking his likeness, a bobblehead doll that I received from a student, with me to Spain in lieu of a Flat Stanley.  That means he will be joining me on my excursions around Spain.  You know a girl should never travel alone!

That being said, this blog will be full of photos and my 2 cents that you may or may not have asked for.  Of course, I am the epitome of innocent, so if something seems dirty or unseemly, it's all on you and YOUR dirty mind.  OK, it might be me, just a little bit, but I'm going to try to keep it clean. ;)

Until next time!

Spanish lesson for the day:  Ways to say good-bye

Adiós
Hasta luego (see you later)
Hasta mañana (see you tomorrow)
Hasta pronto (see you soon)
Chao/chau (yep, the Spanish use it too)