Sorry its been a while since I posted. I have Monday and Tuesday off from work, so hopefully I will be able to get caught up on blogging, work on law school applications and relax. I have officially completed Season 6 of Criminal Minds and can't wait to get up-to-date onto season 7. I do not remember the last time I stayed in bed all day so I have really relished this.
The last two weeks have been surprisingly stressful. I had spent a significant amount of time working on lesson plans for my week of classes just to be derailed completely in class. My first Monday alone with the students, the white board FELL on me and caused the brand-new AV outlet to fall completely off the wall and sent all the students into an endless laughing spree. one of the punks that is my favorite in that class said, "hey, profe, i won't tell anyone you did it. don't worry." then he paused and thought for a second and came up with this idea, "actually, i'll tell everyone I did if you let me take you out to dinner..." The rest of that week was rough. If the lesson plan was too easy, the kids were bored and hyper and chatty. If the lesson was too hard, they were discouraged and quiet as a mouse, embarrassed to ask questions or to express their confusion. This results in me speaking for 50 minutes straight and is miserable for all of us.
All of the teachers and my boss at both schools are wonderful. They have asked numerous times, "how are you doing?" or "is there anything about your schedule that you want to change?" and i want to say, "what schedule!?" Either due to the strike, the students having a test, or a holiday I haven't even had a full week of all my classes. Some hours, I rotate between several teacher's classes. Other hours I only have half of the class and then the other half the following week. It's amazing that between the two schools the same level is actually either better or worse English. It's just going to take a lot of time to get use to which class is which, the students in the class, their age, their level of English and what they are currently studying. I don't expect to have that down until Christmas. If my schedule changes in January, I am going to cry for days. On Thursday, a teacher at JF I have barely even spoken to came up to me and said, "you ready for class?" Trying to play it cool, I said, "yeah, definitely." I don't even know her name! I definitely had no clue we have class together. She told me that I will be in her class every 3rd week. OHH, that explains it, okay... How complicated and crazy.
The high schools I am working out seem deprived of everything I consider to be HIGH SCHOOL. There is no football team, no chorus, no assembly area for school-wide meetings or pep-rallys (or anything to rally for other than the strike). Actually, I sort of take that back. The schools are like labyrinths and every door is locked so for all I know there is an assembly room or gymnasium behind one of those doors. I doubt it though. Even the cafeteria is about the size of a café and serves mainly different types of sandwiches, snacks, fruit and coffee. There isn't any concept of detention or Saturday school. Absolutely no dress code exists. The teachers or staff do not wear name-tags or IDs. The halls aren't lined with lockers because its the teachers that switch classrooms, not the students. There are small lockers in the rooms themselves. The rooms are bare with nothing on the walls, a chalkboard and echo horribly. At LC, Melania and I have our own room for English that has a whiteboard and projection screen (that I almost destroyed but was salvaged thank goodness) and we are working on decorating it. Anyways, I am getting use to how incredibly different it is. When I was walking to school the other morning, there was a group of kids sitting around a hookah in a circle on the sidewalk smoking it. I was like, "did that just happen?!" Apparently, one of the English teachers told Ryan (the other tutor at JF), "well, we are a public school and we don't really have any power over our students. We can't make them come to class." this was the explanation he provided when Ryan asked why so many kids just linger around outside or outside the gates of the school on the street. Can you imagine if you could have gotten away with that in high school?! The teachers even have this lackadaisical attitude. On Thursday, a teacher came by Ryan and I to tell us that she was feeling sick and planned to go home. She told Ryan, "if I'm not here tomorrow, you can just take the afternoon off early." Ryan and I were speculating, if she's not there and he's not there, what are the students going to do during that time?! It's a little crazy, that's for sure.
The students that I have that are great are REALLY great. Some of these 12-13 year olds are the cutest things you've ever seen and are so willing and eager to learn. I love it. I can see myself in some of these girls that sit on the front row wide-eyed, furiously writing down everything I say and raising their hand inquisitively the entire 50 minutes. One boy walked in class and instinctively sat down in his chair in the back. Then, he thought about it for a second, took his bookbag and sat down proudly on the front row with a huge grin on his face. as other students started trickling in, he exclaimed, "I AM BEAUTIFUL!" as I was saying, "wow, yes you are!" this girl next to him hit him on the arm and said, "you meant to say YOU'RE beautiful, STUPID!" the little boy's face turned as red as a tomato and he shrank down in his seat with embarrassment. All I could think was, "you are the most adorable thing I've ever seen and I love you." One of the other boys in this same class was chatting back and forth with some of the girls in the back. They had their English-Spanish dictionary out and after almost 10 minutes finally crafted a question for the boy to ask. This boy has long blonde hair and he read the paper the girls had given him and asked, "do you like boys with bangs?" as the girls started snickering he realized what he had asked and was mortified. It was hilarious. He had already asked if I had a boyfriend and anytime I answered something that pleased him or that he agreed with, he would shout "YES!" as if he was checking off points on our compatibility report. Oh, 13 year olds...
The 16-17 year olds are a whole different story. The first week, they were relentless on the things they were saying. They've calmed down for the most part. It's really funny how old, decrepit and stupid they think I am. I had passed around a roll for each student to write their name down.I was passing back their homework from the week before and I called out, "Paula." The girls told me she would be there in a minute, so I left Paula's paper on the desk she usually sits in. At the end of class, she came up to me and told me she needed to sign the roll. I watched her write, "Eva..." and thought to myself, "yeah, I remember when I thought I invented the write-your-friends-name-on-the-roll-trick. yeah right." So amusing.
Last week, as I was passing out worksheets, I had a moment when I thought, "is this seriously what I am doing?! teaching english. in spain." When I was a little girl I always thought I would be a teacher. Actually, I was registered at Bama Bound as secondary education. I wanted to be a Spanish teacher. It's crazy to think that for the last five years i have rarely thought about that dream because I've been so thrilled about chasing new dreams that I thought were better or more important. Yet, somehow, here i am passing out papers, a stack of copies, a stack of things to grade, note cards with names on each, a lesson book and lessons to plan. I sit in the teacher's lounge during break and have coffee with milk brought to me by the lady who has all the teacher's orders memorized. Between classes, I hang out in the English department and order copies to be made in the front office. It's so strange. I am not old enough to be doing this! But that doesn't mean I am not loving it!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
by the hair on our skinny chin chins
Friday, I had the opportunity to go with a group of students to a nearby town called El Escorial. There is a huge monastery/palace there from King Phillip- the most powerful man in all of Spain's History. He led the Inquisition from the rooms that I walked through. The palace was HUGE and very impressive in every detail- like wooden doors handmade from 100 different kinds of wood and paintings by famous artists in each room. Ryan (the other auxiliar at JF) and I were talking to each other in English the whole time, guilty of not paying much attention to the guide and guilty of not interacting much with the students. It was a group of Bulgarians who are in Collado Villalba for a student exchange. Ryan and I barely managed to find the group in the first place that morning. As soon as we gave up trying to meet up (we didnt have any of the teacher's phone numbers or anything and we were suppose to be there at 9:30 and around 10:30 we decided to go to el Escorial on our own) they found us and got on the train we had just bought tickets to. It worked out nicely. I was so exhausted from a long week, my feet were killing me only half way through this enormous castle and this combination led to me barely paying attention. Luckily, I was technically at work so I dont think it mattered. And if it did, oooops....
After the longest tour of my life, Ryan and I were starving and feeling near-death with exhaustion. The kids pulled out sandwiches from their bags and started eating in the courtyard. Recognizing this meant not eating until the bus got back to Collado Villalba, Ryan and I thanked the professors, said goodbye to everyone and headed off to find food. We stopped by the bus station first to confirm the schedule Rick Steves lists to get to the Valley of The Fallen- a memorial for the Spanish-Civil War. Sure enough, Rick was right- he is always right so we grabbed a pizza at this wonderful little Italian place across the street from the bus station. My pizza was tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, proscuitto and olive oil- best pizza ever! We bought our bus tickets, climbed abroad and were at the Valley of the Fallen fifteen minutes later.
This moment completely blew my mind. This huge valley full of trees on the side of the mountain with a huge cross and huge memorial. It reminded me of something like you'd see in Washington DC but this one was full of religious statues. Ironically, Franco and the father of Facism are buried there with the 50,000 Spanish who died in the war. Does that sit well with you? Because I was filled with the eeriest feeling walking through this huge place. The 30 foot angels of death/facism looking down on me didn't really help.
The bus route only runs one time from El Escorial to the Valley. We got on at 3:15, we get back on at 5:30. There is not 2 hours worth of things to do at this momument. Luckily, it was nice weather so Ryan and I sat in the sun and chatted overlooking this gorgeous valley and then I decided to take a little nap. I woke up at 5:10 and we decided to head over to the bus. We see a bus and laugh at how there are probably a total of 15 people at this thing. Next thing we know, its 5:20 and a huge group of students speaking German boards that bus and it takes off. At this moment, we realize, "uh oh, that clearly isnt our bus. where IS our bus? where are all the people we rode here with on that bus?" I start noticing there are only 2 cars in the entire parking lot and I am having visions of sleeping under a tree at this place. At 5:24 or so we start walking and realize we actually have no clue where we are or where we are suppose to be. We are lost and our one shot off of this mountain cliff is leaving in 5 minutes. Panic totally started to settle in when Ryan spotted the bus up this small hill. We started running and boarded the bus at 5:31. We didn't even sit down before the driver was already driving off the mountain. Talk about a close, close, close call. Glad we went! Really glad we didn't get stuck there.
After the longest tour of my life, Ryan and I were starving and feeling near-death with exhaustion. The kids pulled out sandwiches from their bags and started eating in the courtyard. Recognizing this meant not eating until the bus got back to Collado Villalba, Ryan and I thanked the professors, said goodbye to everyone and headed off to find food. We stopped by the bus station first to confirm the schedule Rick Steves lists to get to the Valley of The Fallen- a memorial for the Spanish-Civil War. Sure enough, Rick was right- he is always right so we grabbed a pizza at this wonderful little Italian place across the street from the bus station. My pizza was tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, proscuitto and olive oil- best pizza ever! We bought our bus tickets, climbed abroad and were at the Valley of the Fallen fifteen minutes later.
This moment completely blew my mind. This huge valley full of trees on the side of the mountain with a huge cross and huge memorial. It reminded me of something like you'd see in Washington DC but this one was full of religious statues. Ironically, Franco and the father of Facism are buried there with the 50,000 Spanish who died in the war. Does that sit well with you? Because I was filled with the eeriest feeling walking through this huge place. The 30 foot angels of death/facism looking down on me didn't really help.
The bus route only runs one time from El Escorial to the Valley. We got on at 3:15, we get back on at 5:30. There is not 2 hours worth of things to do at this momument. Luckily, it was nice weather so Ryan and I sat in the sun and chatted overlooking this gorgeous valley and then I decided to take a little nap. I woke up at 5:10 and we decided to head over to the bus. We see a bus and laugh at how there are probably a total of 15 people at this thing. Next thing we know, its 5:20 and a huge group of students speaking German boards that bus and it takes off. At this moment, we realize, "uh oh, that clearly isnt our bus. where IS our bus? where are all the people we rode here with on that bus?" I start noticing there are only 2 cars in the entire parking lot and I am having visions of sleeping under a tree at this place. At 5:24 or so we start walking and realize we actually have no clue where we are or where we are suppose to be. We are lost and our one shot off of this mountain cliff is leaving in 5 minutes. Panic totally started to settle in when Ryan spotted the bus up this small hill. We started running and boarded the bus at 5:31. We didn't even sit down before the driver was already driving off the mountain. Talk about a close, close, close call. Glad we went! Really glad we didn't get stuck there.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
where's your bus ticket?
For our first weekend adventure, I gathered some friends for a day trip to Segovia. We woke up later than planned, stood first in line for the bus only to discover we needed to buy our ticket BEFORE getting in line, lost our place in line and had to take a later bus... BUT we got there and that was all that mattered. I went with a roommate, the other English tutor (auxiliar) and one of the schools I work at and the other English tutor (auxiliar) at the other school where I work. We had so much fun exploring this quaint little city and laughed throughout the entire day.
Exhausted from walking all over, I came home, ate dinner with the flatmates and crawled into bed in my sweatpants to watch Alabama destroy Ole Miss. When we were down by 7, I caved and paid 20 euros for a instant-watch subscription for a month. It was live TV so I was totally "at home." This week has gotten off to a rough start with my classes, but more on this for the next post! Hope you enjoyed the photos. More to come, I promise. In the mean time, check out this link to a project I am passionate about. I will be finishing my letters tomorrow and I would be thrilled if you would join me in reaching this goal to put a handwritten letter in the hand of every male and female in service this Thanksgiving.
The letters are due to be in the mail by October 28th. I realize that this is not much time but maybe this will encourage you to do it right now instead of putting it on a list and never getting around to it. I hope that you feel inspired by this cause to write at least one letter and perhaps more. Please pass this site, information and idea onto friends and family around the globe. I am encouraging many friends to participate and it is my hope that you will too. I have two friends who will be leaving for Afghanistan very shortly and I can only imagine that five minutes out of your day will mean SO MUCH to them and to their fellow soldiers.
The link to everything you need to know is here: http://thebertshow.com/the-bert-shows-big-thank-you/
Happy writing!
I mean, the aqueduct isn't really that impressive. C'mon.
At the Palace- with my roommate. Apparently Disney used this alcazar as the model for Cinderella's Castle
How great is this door knocker?
Aw, our little group! (The palace terrace)
This INCREDIBLE desert that was the strangest and most distinct thing I've ever tasted. Very famous in Segovia- a mix of lemon, cinnamon and marzapan. We split a portion no bigger than a regular cupcake amongst the four of us and still had trouble finishing it- it was that rich.
The glorious Cathedral.
Walking out of Segovia. The aqueduct in all of its glory. Absolutely stunning.
Exhausted from walking all over, I came home, ate dinner with the flatmates and crawled into bed in my sweatpants to watch Alabama destroy Ole Miss. When we were down by 7, I caved and paid 20 euros for a instant-watch subscription for a month. It was live TV so I was totally "at home." This week has gotten off to a rough start with my classes, but more on this for the next post! Hope you enjoyed the photos. More to come, I promise. In the mean time, check out this link to a project I am passionate about. I will be finishing my letters tomorrow and I would be thrilled if you would join me in reaching this goal to put a handwritten letter in the hand of every male and female in service this Thanksgiving.
The letters are due to be in the mail by October 28th. I realize that this is not much time but maybe this will encourage you to do it right now instead of putting it on a list and never getting around to it. I hope that you feel inspired by this cause to write at least one letter and perhaps more. Please pass this site, information and idea onto friends and family around the globe. I am encouraging many friends to participate and it is my hope that you will too. I have two friends who will be leaving for Afghanistan very shortly and I can only imagine that five minutes out of your day will mean SO MUCH to them and to their fellow soldiers.
The link to everything you need to know is here: http://thebertshow.com/the-bert-shows-big-thank-you/
Happy writing!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
its a small world after all
Stephanie Makes Friends Part 2: Incredible Coincidences
For such a large city, it's remarkable how many coincidences and strange encounters I've had in just a few days of living here. Maybe it's more than a strange encounter and instead, God's way of telling us- the adventurers who decided to leave "home" and trust in Him- that He's looking out for us and ensuring that we do not feel alienated at all whatsoever. I'll give several examples. One of my first days of class, I got on a nearly full bus to come home. Walking through the aisle, I was searching for someone to share a seat with for the 30 minute ride. I spotted a nice-looking girl about my age and chose to sit next to her. I glanced over to her lap once I was seated to see she had English textbooks just like the ones I have. So I asked her, "Oh, where are you from?" Turns out not only is she an auxiliar like me, not only is she from Georgia, but she is from Roswell. WOW. She went to UGA, studied International Relations and is taking this year in Spain before pursuing a masters in international relations. She even knew some of the same people I knew. We had a lovely chat the whole ride home and exchanged information, even walking together for several blocks after getting off the bus. Several mornings later, I saw her again heading to work. Really sweet girl, looking forward to seeing her again on and off the bus.
Last week, I was spending my Sunday afternoon exploring the city and resting for the week ahead. I decided to stop in a cafe chain and get a few croissants for the mornings. Standing behind me in line was a young guy wearing LSU basketball shorts. So I asked him if he goes to or graduated from LSU. He replied "oh my gosh, hey Stephanie...we are friends on Facebook." When I first accepted this position, I joined several groups on Facebook of auxiliares and auxiliares placed in Madrid. We were mainly exchanging comments and questions on the visa process and several people friend-requested me. HOW CRAZY! We sat down and had coffee and talked for a while about our first days in the city. We are planning to watch the big LSU-Bama game together on November 5th.
One of my flatmates, the Brazilian, met another Brazilian by pure happenstance when they both happened to be looking at a room for rental at the same time. They are from the same town in Brazil and are able to speak Portuguese together. I went to lunch with them both today.
I'd like to think that being thankful for these little things is what enriches life (and especially this experience) because in such a huge city, half way across the world its still possible to find a piece of home. You can imagine my reaction was a little different when we were standing in line to buy tickets to a palace in Segovia this weekend and Auburn fans were in front of us. Now that's a piece of home I could go without seeing until July!
For such a large city, it's remarkable how many coincidences and strange encounters I've had in just a few days of living here. Maybe it's more than a strange encounter and instead, God's way of telling us- the adventurers who decided to leave "home" and trust in Him- that He's looking out for us and ensuring that we do not feel alienated at all whatsoever. I'll give several examples. One of my first days of class, I got on a nearly full bus to come home. Walking through the aisle, I was searching for someone to share a seat with for the 30 minute ride. I spotted a nice-looking girl about my age and chose to sit next to her. I glanced over to her lap once I was seated to see she had English textbooks just like the ones I have. So I asked her, "Oh, where are you from?" Turns out not only is she an auxiliar like me, not only is she from Georgia, but she is from Roswell. WOW. She went to UGA, studied International Relations and is taking this year in Spain before pursuing a masters in international relations. She even knew some of the same people I knew. We had a lovely chat the whole ride home and exchanged information, even walking together for several blocks after getting off the bus. Several mornings later, I saw her again heading to work. Really sweet girl, looking forward to seeing her again on and off the bus.
Last week, I was spending my Sunday afternoon exploring the city and resting for the week ahead. I decided to stop in a cafe chain and get a few croissants for the mornings. Standing behind me in line was a young guy wearing LSU basketball shorts. So I asked him if he goes to or graduated from LSU. He replied "oh my gosh, hey Stephanie...we are friends on Facebook." When I first accepted this position, I joined several groups on Facebook of auxiliares and auxiliares placed in Madrid. We were mainly exchanging comments and questions on the visa process and several people friend-requested me. HOW CRAZY! We sat down and had coffee and talked for a while about our first days in the city. We are planning to watch the big LSU-Bama game together on November 5th.
One of my flatmates, the Brazilian, met another Brazilian by pure happenstance when they both happened to be looking at a room for rental at the same time. They are from the same town in Brazil and are able to speak Portuguese together. I went to lunch with them both today.
I'd like to think that being thankful for these little things is what enriches life (and especially this experience) because in such a huge city, half way across the world its still possible to find a piece of home. You can imagine my reaction was a little different when we were standing in line to buy tickets to a palace in Segovia this weekend and Auburn fans were in front of us. Now that's a piece of home I could go without seeing until July!
Source: 16house.blogspot.com via Elsa on Pinterest
Thursday, October 13, 2011
we have to become a family
Stephanie Makes Friends Part 1: Her roommates.
After five days of living here and never seeing one of my roommates from Brazil and only ever interacting with another roommate briefly, two days ago 3/5 of us had a lovely intense bonding session. I learned there is no exact translation for the word, "bonding" in Spanish which is a shame because that's exactly what occurred. One of the girls is moving out. She is quiet, keeps to herself, wakes up around 7 am every morning and goes to bed early. I'm not entirely positive where she is from but she doesn't really chat much other than a "hola" or "luego" if you happen to pass her.
The Argentinian girl is great. She is studying Social Education and planning to live in Madrid for three years. She claims she is a great cook and that she will cook for everyone many nights. I told her, that sounds great! She can teach me how to cook and I'll buy a bottle of Rioja. The Brazilian joined in that he will contribute by teaching us Portuguese. He is incredibly nice and funny. He's 26, has a serious girlfriend back in Brazil and is a lawyer getting his masters here in Intellectual Property Law. I can tell that he is incredibly smart because whenever Candy (the Argentinian) teaches us a word in Spanish, he knows it- even several days later. We all chatted about our new lives in Madrid and in the apartment, how we have plans to travel and made deals on what to buy and share in the kitchen and bathroom.
Again, I cannot stress how incredibly blessed I feel. So far so good, I was randomly placed with really awesome people. Gabriel was telling us that the first two days he lived in the apartment by himself and then he met our Italian roommate who is 33. He works at the Italian restaurant that is next door to our building. Italgo's room is the one that is closest to mine. Other than the fact that he works until late in the night and isn't exactly mouse-like when he comes home and that when I am up early in the morning to go to the school, I can hear him snoring through the walls, he seems like a cool guy. He is literally NEVER here. Gabriel told us girls that we have to become a family since our families are so far away. He's got a movie night lined up already for tomorrow night.
I'm working on my law school applications and also trying to plan out when I am going to take a few trips. I have a nice holiday coming up at the end of October so I am looking forward to spending a few days somewhere exciting. Not that Madrid isn't exciting...
Everyday two, three or four times a day, the landlord comes by showing some prospective roommate the apartment, the bathroom and our kitchen. It's pretty obnoxious so hopefully someone really great will move in ASAP and complete our new little family. Though it was not at all my preference or my desire to live with boys, so far it hasn't been much of a problem. It's incredibly common here when the location is good and rent is cheap. It's awesome to be settled somewhere and I have fixed utilities so I just have to worry about paying rent each month. The location of this apartment is awesome and I am learning new things about the area everyday. With the help of sharing tips with the roommates, I am finding the cheapest supermarket, the absolute quickest routes to and from metro stations, etc. One thing at a time!
Today, when I woke up to get ready for school, it was 52 degrees outside but the high for today was 89. I was wearing short sleeves and jeans and sweating when I was walking around the city this afternoon. Looking forward to cooler weather, NOT looking forward to snow in those mountains.
I don't have to go to school on Fridays, so I am done for the week!
After five days of living here and never seeing one of my roommates from Brazil and only ever interacting with another roommate briefly, two days ago 3/5 of us had a lovely intense bonding session. I learned there is no exact translation for the word, "bonding" in Spanish which is a shame because that's exactly what occurred. One of the girls is moving out. She is quiet, keeps to herself, wakes up around 7 am every morning and goes to bed early. I'm not entirely positive where she is from but she doesn't really chat much other than a "hola" or "luego" if you happen to pass her.
The Argentinian girl is great. She is studying Social Education and planning to live in Madrid for three years. She claims she is a great cook and that she will cook for everyone many nights. I told her, that sounds great! She can teach me how to cook and I'll buy a bottle of Rioja. The Brazilian joined in that he will contribute by teaching us Portuguese. He is incredibly nice and funny. He's 26, has a serious girlfriend back in Brazil and is a lawyer getting his masters here in Intellectual Property Law. I can tell that he is incredibly smart because whenever Candy (the Argentinian) teaches us a word in Spanish, he knows it- even several days later. We all chatted about our new lives in Madrid and in the apartment, how we have plans to travel and made deals on what to buy and share in the kitchen and bathroom.
Again, I cannot stress how incredibly blessed I feel. So far so good, I was randomly placed with really awesome people. Gabriel was telling us that the first two days he lived in the apartment by himself and then he met our Italian roommate who is 33. He works at the Italian restaurant that is next door to our building. Italgo's room is the one that is closest to mine. Other than the fact that he works until late in the night and isn't exactly mouse-like when he comes home and that when I am up early in the morning to go to the school, I can hear him snoring through the walls, he seems like a cool guy. He is literally NEVER here. Gabriel told us girls that we have to become a family since our families are so far away. He's got a movie night lined up already for tomorrow night.
I'm working on my law school applications and also trying to plan out when I am going to take a few trips. I have a nice holiday coming up at the end of October so I am looking forward to spending a few days somewhere exciting. Not that Madrid isn't exciting...
Everyday two, three or four times a day, the landlord comes by showing some prospective roommate the apartment, the bathroom and our kitchen. It's pretty obnoxious so hopefully someone really great will move in ASAP and complete our new little family. Though it was not at all my preference or my desire to live with boys, so far it hasn't been much of a problem. It's incredibly common here when the location is good and rent is cheap. It's awesome to be settled somewhere and I have fixed utilities so I just have to worry about paying rent each month. The location of this apartment is awesome and I am learning new things about the area everyday. With the help of sharing tips with the roommates, I am finding the cheapest supermarket, the absolute quickest routes to and from metro stations, etc. One thing at a time!
Today, when I woke up to get ready for school, it was 52 degrees outside but the high for today was 89. I was wearing short sleeves and jeans and sweating when I was walking around the city this afternoon. Looking forward to cooler weather, NOT looking forward to snow in those mountains.
I don't have to go to school on Fridays, so I am done for the week!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
have you got any brothers or sisters?
Yesterday and today were my first days teaching at the schools. I am beginning to get use to the ease of the metro and bus system and the schedules but as I learned today, I definitely don't have it down yet. My first class went really well. I had the best students- all about 16 in a special class just for learning about culture and other interesting topics in English. I told them about myself, showed them brochures about UA and bragged about how amazing we are at American football. They asked questions and then I taught them how to play this game called, "Take a Hike." In this game, everyone sits in chairs in a circle except for one person. The person standing in the middle says, "Take a hike if you..." and if whatever is said applies to you, then you have to get up and switch to a new chair. One person is left standing every time and they are the person that starts the next switch. It's fun, a good way to get to know people and also was valuable in helping me understand how to relate to them and how good their English is. Now I realize, I will have to come up with fun games to play every time so maybe it wasn't such a good idea haha. In one of the classes yesterday, WITH THE PROFESSOR still in the room, one of the kids said, "Take a hike if you like the smell of marijuana..." oh man, my little private school education-self was totally stunned. I'm not in Kansas anymore by any means. With one class today a girl said, "Take a hike if you prefer Stephanie to our regular teacher" and everyone got up and switched chairs so that made me feel good.
A few of these 16 year olds are little brats. They're going to be my favorite though I think. I never was that kid in school, but I feel like I just graduated from high school yesterday so I'm ready for whatever antics they've got. Or at least I think I am. We will see. Two days in and I needed a nap this afternoon. It's going to take more than two cafe con leches to handle these teenagers, that's for sure. I really like all the teachers I am working with. It's looking like I'll be spending at least an hour a week preparing lessons but I can re-use lessons at the two different schools and in the different groups of the same level, so that will help. I'm excited!
I was intrigued that most of the time, for anything I said there was one student who would spit out the Spanish translation for the rest of the class. This theme carried on throughout my day today. The students are timid at first and for anything I say, yell out in Spanish, "I don't understand anything that you say." Clearly, they do understand because I am speaking slowly, clearly and saying things like, "My name is Stephanie. I am 22 years old." By the end of the 50 minute class session, miraculously they are able to speak English fairly decently most of the time. The game was brilliant.
Though I was almost 30 minutes late to the school this morning, no one seemed to care at all so that was good. My first class this morning went well and the rest of my classes the same. I have mostly classes of 16-18 year olds and then I have one class of 12-13 year olds. All day long I was berated with questions I rarely ever answer. What is your favorite subject? Do you collections of anything? What is your favorite actor? What program do you like?
And the strangest, their textbook teaches them to say "have got," which I would say is incorrect English, but I suppose is common in British English. So they were saying, Have you got any pets? Have you got any brothers or sisters? I was thinking, "Uh, am I suppose to say, 'no I have not got any brothers or sisters' because I refuse to say that." I guess its like whenever someone corrects my Spanish that I learned from a book for 8 years. Hey Alabama and GAC, I'd like a refund on my education. Please? In all seriousness though, my Spanish is atrocious. I want to enroll in a language school and take Spanish classes at night in the next few weeks when I have my law school applications almost completed.
The greatest challenge other than my list of errands I need to run and the application process is that my key to the main door into the apartment is impossible. The landlord explained to me that its just very difficult and gave me careful instructions on how to open it. Mario was able to open it after a few tries, but I still never could get it. Today, I was standing at the door trying it for a solid five minutes before one my roommates sitting with a huge group of his friends at a cafe nearby got up from his table and came over to let me in. It was pretty embarrassing considering we haven't exchanged more than about five sentences in the five days I have been living here. Anyways, I begged for a new key when the landlord came by this afternoon to show the room that is up for rent. He caved but not until he made me walk downstairs with him and prove that I am incapable of opening the door with that key. He gave me a new key he says is "a slight bit easier" and demonstrated how to do it with a tutorial. I hope that this key is better and I don't spend any nights sleeping on the street. But seriously.
Alright, I think that's all for now! Tomorrow is a holiday so I don't have to go to work. I am hoping to make my next post about the strike since some of you have been asking me. Keep reading, comment below and let me know if there's anything you want me to write about that I haven't yet. And email me too!
A few of these 16 year olds are little brats. They're going to be my favorite though I think. I never was that kid in school, but I feel like I just graduated from high school yesterday so I'm ready for whatever antics they've got. Or at least I think I am. We will see. Two days in and I needed a nap this afternoon. It's going to take more than two cafe con leches to handle these teenagers, that's for sure. I really like all the teachers I am working with. It's looking like I'll be spending at least an hour a week preparing lessons but I can re-use lessons at the two different schools and in the different groups of the same level, so that will help. I'm excited!
I was intrigued that most of the time, for anything I said there was one student who would spit out the Spanish translation for the rest of the class. This theme carried on throughout my day today. The students are timid at first and for anything I say, yell out in Spanish, "I don't understand anything that you say." Clearly, they do understand because I am speaking slowly, clearly and saying things like, "My name is Stephanie. I am 22 years old." By the end of the 50 minute class session, miraculously they are able to speak English fairly decently most of the time. The game was brilliant.
Though I was almost 30 minutes late to the school this morning, no one seemed to care at all so that was good. My first class this morning went well and the rest of my classes the same. I have mostly classes of 16-18 year olds and then I have one class of 12-13 year olds. All day long I was berated with questions I rarely ever answer. What is your favorite subject? Do you collections of anything? What is your favorite actor? What program do you like?
And the strangest, their textbook teaches them to say "have got," which I would say is incorrect English, but I suppose is common in British English. So they were saying, Have you got any pets? Have you got any brothers or sisters? I was thinking, "Uh, am I suppose to say, 'no I have not got any brothers or sisters' because I refuse to say that." I guess its like whenever someone corrects my Spanish that I learned from a book for 8 years. Hey Alabama and GAC, I'd like a refund on my education. Please? In all seriousness though, my Spanish is atrocious. I want to enroll in a language school and take Spanish classes at night in the next few weeks when I have my law school applications almost completed.
The greatest challenge other than my list of errands I need to run and the application process is that my key to the main door into the apartment is impossible. The landlord explained to me that its just very difficult and gave me careful instructions on how to open it. Mario was able to open it after a few tries, but I still never could get it. Today, I was standing at the door trying it for a solid five minutes before one my roommates sitting with a huge group of his friends at a cafe nearby got up from his table and came over to let me in. It was pretty embarrassing considering we haven't exchanged more than about five sentences in the five days I have been living here. Anyways, I begged for a new key when the landlord came by this afternoon to show the room that is up for rent. He caved but not until he made me walk downstairs with him and prove that I am incapable of opening the door with that key. He gave me a new key he says is "a slight bit easier" and demonstrated how to do it with a tutorial. I hope that this key is better and I don't spend any nights sleeping on the street. But seriously.
Alright, I think that's all for now! Tomorrow is a holiday so I don't have to go to work. I am hoping to make my next post about the strike since some of you have been asking me. Keep reading, comment below and let me know if there's anything you want me to write about that I haven't yet. And email me too!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
blessed beginnings
well, here it goes. the update on my first week here. i had expectations set pretty high, so i am totally guilty of self-inflicting that pressure. all things considered though, i got a lot accomplished in a short period of time with the help of amazing people.
dad is notorious for choosing the exit row for any flight. this always drives me crazy because i could care less about the leg room, i want access to all my stuff. he was asleep before the flight even took off- seriously. he was too asleep to even give me the Lunesta he had for me in his pocket. thanks for nothing, Dad. I think sitting on that plane was the first time i have really breathed in several weeks due to all the stress from LSAT studying and getting ready to leave. I had been feeling sick all week and so the plane was a little rough on my disease but i managed to sleep much of the way with entertainment from two amazing Law and Order SVU episodes. we landed, got my three gigantic and overweight suitcases and headed to meet with a dear family friend who happens to work for my dad, Pedro. He picked us up with his dog, Hanna, who is the most well-trained dog you can imagine. The Dog Whisperer should take notes, she's that well-behaved. Pedro let us stay at his parent's empty apartment until I found a permanent place to live. Pretty much right after dropping off our stuff and changing, we headed to the town about 20 miles outside of Madrid where I will be teaching four days of the week.
After a brief visit and meeting a girl that I had been emailing with, we came back to Madrid, got a phone for me and made a few calls to apartments with the help of our ipads over lunch. I have missed Tinto Verano and Jamon Iberico more than I realized. I went by and looked at one apartment, but the girls were a little older and I just didn't feel like it was perfect. Dad and I got naps and then headed to meet with the girl from the school, a boy I met in Sevilla last summer and another coworker from Dad's company. We had an amazing evening with incredible red wine from this region, great tapas and really great conversations. It was a charming evening. After some champagne to celebrate my finishing the LSAT, Dad's team having the best quarter in the company's history and my moving to Madrid, we called it a night.
Early Wednesday morning, I met up with Melania and we went to the school where we will be working together. Our boss invited us for lunch so we spent most of the afternoon together. Melania is really great; she was at this school teaching English last year too. Her and Silvia have a really close relationship and I felt really at home in her home. She made an incredible meal and her whole family is fabulous. I feel confident that there will be many more afternoons there and I am thrilled for that! I feel incredibly blessed and like Madrid is really where I am suppose to be.
That evening, we went to a great Japanese restaurant where we cooked the meat ourselves at the table with some family friends and business associates. It's really a blessing that I already know people here and that I know I can count on them.
Thursday, I finally slept in. Pedro and I spent the rest of the afternoon making calls to apartments. Essentially, the time to rent in Madrid is September so everywhere has filled up or is filling really fast. I was lucky that I found a place I liked enough to seal the deal. I signed a lease until July so I hope that this place lives up to its potential. My room is rather large (about twice the size of an individual room in the sorority house) and the whole building is students so its kind of like a dorm. I have five roommates- one of which I still havent met yet and we all share a kitchen and a bathroom, but we dont have a living room. Sharing the bathroom with four other people will certainly be an adventure but so far, I don't even see anyone else so it's not a problem. I hope these people become friends and that I meet others in the building as well. I like the size of my room, that I have my own balcony and that plenty of light comes in. The best thing though is the location. From here, I will walk a few blocks, take the metro two stops, then take a bus for 30 minutes to the schools. I am also really close to the friends here I already know, so it's ideal for that.
Friday, I woke up early, successfully ventured to the schools on my own- I was SO proud of myself! I met with my boss at the second school and got my schedule for Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can feel that I am going to be really happy and its an amazing feeling. I left that meeting and with the help of Pedro, moved into my new place! I took a nap, explored a little and made a few purchases.
Yesterday morning was a little rough between dealing with problems with my credit card and with the internet, but I think it's all going to be worked out soon. The day ended with new friends, Auburn's loss and Alabama's win. Does it really get any better than that?!
Anyways, I know this is the longest post ever but I just wanted to update you and I promise to continue to use this blog as a way to keep you informed while I am here. I know a great and fantastic adventure lies ahead and I cant wait for my first day at work tomorrow!
dad is notorious for choosing the exit row for any flight. this always drives me crazy because i could care less about the leg room, i want access to all my stuff. he was asleep before the flight even took off- seriously. he was too asleep to even give me the Lunesta he had for me in his pocket. thanks for nothing, Dad. I think sitting on that plane was the first time i have really breathed in several weeks due to all the stress from LSAT studying and getting ready to leave. I had been feeling sick all week and so the plane was a little rough on my disease but i managed to sleep much of the way with entertainment from two amazing Law and Order SVU episodes. we landed, got my three gigantic and overweight suitcases and headed to meet with a dear family friend who happens to work for my dad, Pedro. He picked us up with his dog, Hanna, who is the most well-trained dog you can imagine. The Dog Whisperer should take notes, she's that well-behaved. Pedro let us stay at his parent's empty apartment until I found a permanent place to live. Pretty much right after dropping off our stuff and changing, we headed to the town about 20 miles outside of Madrid where I will be teaching four days of the week.
After a brief visit and meeting a girl that I had been emailing with, we came back to Madrid, got a phone for me and made a few calls to apartments with the help of our ipads over lunch. I have missed Tinto Verano and Jamon Iberico more than I realized. I went by and looked at one apartment, but the girls were a little older and I just didn't feel like it was perfect. Dad and I got naps and then headed to meet with the girl from the school, a boy I met in Sevilla last summer and another coworker from Dad's company. We had an amazing evening with incredible red wine from this region, great tapas and really great conversations. It was a charming evening. After some champagne to celebrate my finishing the LSAT, Dad's team having the best quarter in the company's history and my moving to Madrid, we called it a night.
Early Wednesday morning, I met up with Melania and we went to the school where we will be working together. Our boss invited us for lunch so we spent most of the afternoon together. Melania is really great; she was at this school teaching English last year too. Her and Silvia have a really close relationship and I felt really at home in her home. She made an incredible meal and her whole family is fabulous. I feel confident that there will be many more afternoons there and I am thrilled for that! I feel incredibly blessed and like Madrid is really where I am suppose to be.
That evening, we went to a great Japanese restaurant where we cooked the meat ourselves at the table with some family friends and business associates. It's really a blessing that I already know people here and that I know I can count on them.
Thursday, I finally slept in. Pedro and I spent the rest of the afternoon making calls to apartments. Essentially, the time to rent in Madrid is September so everywhere has filled up or is filling really fast. I was lucky that I found a place I liked enough to seal the deal. I signed a lease until July so I hope that this place lives up to its potential. My room is rather large (about twice the size of an individual room in the sorority house) and the whole building is students so its kind of like a dorm. I have five roommates- one of which I still havent met yet and we all share a kitchen and a bathroom, but we dont have a living room. Sharing the bathroom with four other people will certainly be an adventure but so far, I don't even see anyone else so it's not a problem. I hope these people become friends and that I meet others in the building as well. I like the size of my room, that I have my own balcony and that plenty of light comes in. The best thing though is the location. From here, I will walk a few blocks, take the metro two stops, then take a bus for 30 minutes to the schools. I am also really close to the friends here I already know, so it's ideal for that.
Friday, I woke up early, successfully ventured to the schools on my own- I was SO proud of myself! I met with my boss at the second school and got my schedule for Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can feel that I am going to be really happy and its an amazing feeling. I left that meeting and with the help of Pedro, moved into my new place! I took a nap, explored a little and made a few purchases.
Yesterday morning was a little rough between dealing with problems with my credit card and with the internet, but I think it's all going to be worked out soon. The day ended with new friends, Auburn's loss and Alabama's win. Does it really get any better than that?!
Anyways, I know this is the longest post ever but I just wanted to update you and I promise to continue to use this blog as a way to keep you informed while I am here. I know a great and fantastic adventure lies ahead and I cant wait for my first day at work tomorrow!
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