Running around and trying to get settled

I feel like I’ve spent the last week just running around like a mad woman. I’m hoping sometime soon I start to feel a little more settled. I think part of that has to do with the fact that I haven’t been sleeping really well. I’ve been really restless and having really weird dreams, as well as hearing my neighbors wake up and rustle (loudly) about their house at seemingly ungodly hours.

Today I set my alarm for 6:30. I didn’t have to be at my school until 9 but I wanted to give myself time to get in the shower in case some of my roommates were up without being rushed. I also of course have to walk to my school, which I thought was probably only 15-20 minutes away, but was going to give myself extra time just in case. Well, when the alarm went off it seemed so much earlier than it was. It seemed really dark still, and none of my roommates were up so I was afraid of waking them up. Our apartment is far from sound proof, because of the combination of thin walls and a goofy layout. I finally got up and started to get ready about 7:15. Random side note: once again, I have a tiny, tiny little shower. I was deceived by the fact that it has a “tub” so I thought it would be a lot bigger…not so much…also, as I have seen throughout Spain, the shower head is attached to the center of the wall, facing out towards the shower curtain. I wish someone would explain the thought process of this to me. It just seems like there would be so much more room if the water shot the long way of the tub. Weirddddd. Anywho, not long after I started getting ready I heard my roommates start stirring. Luckily, not just because of me, but because they had to leave too. I don’t typically have breakfast, but I was super hungry. I was hoping to find a panadería on my way to work, but really didn’t feel like my typical napolitana and the one I passed didn’t have empanadillas. When I got close to my school I still had 20 minutes, so I stopped and got some orange juice at a café. There were two old guys, friends for God only knows how long, sitting at a table nearby, chatting and having churros con chocolate together. It was a sight that made me smile.

After that I headed off to work. I had messaged the director of my school the day before to ask what time I should be there and she said 9. That was fine with me except for one thing…when I showed up and got to meet with the person putting my schedule together, it was decided that I would typical start on Tuesdays at 11 or 12. Hmmm, ok…what to do for the next couple hours. I went around to 2 of the 3 classes I will be working in and met the kids and we did a basic presentation. I was really impressed by the amount of Spanish that the 1st grade teachers knew, and how much English they used in the classroom, as well as how much English the kids used. Even when the teacher asked one little girl, Alba (which fun-fact-of-the-day, apparently comes from some word meaning sunrise) to show me where the other classroom was, I said “thank you” and she responded “You’re welcome.” I realize maybe this doesn’t sound like much, but I didn’t have to ask her to say it in English or anything, she just did on her own. So often the kids get embarrassed and use Spanish instead. I’m really looking forward to working with them.

The teachers told the kids that I don’t speak Spanish, hoping they will be more willing to respond in English. It’s so hard not to slip into Spanish when they ask simple questions, or have NO idea what you’re saying in English. I’m going to have to get even better and charades and pretending like I don’t know what they are saying. At this school I will be working with two 1st grade classes, and one 6th grade class. My schedule at this school is basically like this each week…
1st grade A: One English class, one science class
1st grade B: one English class, two science classes
6th grade: one English class

Last year my school got me to see every single class, even if it was only once a week. The school I went to yesterday (Ruiz Jimenez) is basically the same thing. Being with basically just the 1st graders is a really different idea, but I like and understand it. This is the second year this school has been a bilingual school, so technically the 1st graders are the first integrated bilingual class, so it makes sense that I help them progress and help them set the bar for the grades coming in behind them. It also will give me a chance to spend good, quality time with this particular group of students, and hopefully they will make a lot of progress.

Around 11:30 Libertad (my coordinator) said I could leave, that we would start my normal schedule next week. I didn’t mind staying, but I won’t lie…I was pretty glad to be out of there before 2. I went to the Universidad Popular, where they offer classes like art (photography!), cooking, languages, dancing, etc, etc. Unfortunately all the classes I wanted were already full. I was still hungry so on my way home I stopped at a café with a sign for churros con chocolate. Mmmm. They were weird churros, because they were really skinny and small, but still tasty!

I stopped at home, then went to the tourism office again to ask if there were any protestant churches in town, which buses go to the mall and the university, get information about the upcoming feria (more info on that coming later!) and see if they had any gym recommendations.
Summary:
-Nope, no protestant churches. There’s apparently one evangelical church, because that’s the main religion of the gypsies (which I didn’t realize…I thought they were Catholic too), but that’s it. Can I muster up the desire to go to Catholic mass? I don’t know…
-I found the bus that runs by my house to both the university and the mall. A few people have told me that the bus system here is a mess. I think the problem is not the quantity of buses, or their routes, but the fact that the bus stops don’t say which bus passes by, and it doesn’t say how frequently they run. Biiiig guessing game. I found a website with the bus routes, but again, it’s set up on Google maps and doesn’t clearly state where the stops are. They also say “runs every 30 minutes” but doesn’t say if it’s on the hour, or the quarter-hour or what.
-There’s apparently a gym 100 meters from my house, aka REALLY CLOSE! That would be so nice. I haven’t seen it yet, or had a chance to check it out, but I hope it’s good. Having a gym that close during the winter months would be absolutely amazing.
-Feria is a festival here in Jaén that lasts like 10 days. People rave about it…or as Kristin enthusiastically claimed at the bar this past weekend “Me encanta, me encanta, me encanta!” (I love it, I love it, I love it!) At the tourism office I got a booklet with the schedule of all the events and it does seem pretty amazing. I won’t go into too much here…we’ll save that for when feria actually arrives (on the 15th).

I hit up the locutorio (locutorio= internet café) to check my e-mail, do work stuff, etc. After this I meandered off to find the bus stop to the university so I could go take my Spanish placement test. When I got to the bus stop Anna, an auxiliar doing the CIEE program, said a group of them were meeting at the Corte Ingles and walking to the university together. I headed off, had a lemon granizado (slushee) and met up with them.

We waited for Chris to arrive and he guided us to the university (he’s the only one in today’s group that knew where it was). We waited around for awhile, then got wrangled together in a lecture hall to hear about the Spanish classes and the placement test. They said a few things in Spanish, then said if you didn’t understand what they just said you would be in A1, the beginning class. As soon as they were organized and left the lecture hall the continued the sorting process, until eventually most of us needed to take a placement test. We were split into groups, and sent off to computer labs where we had 45 minutes to complete a written test (multiple choice, 30 or 60 questions depending on your level), a reading test and a listening test. I was one that had to answer 60 questions. I wasn’t sure if that meant I was doing well, or doing poorly. The reading test was easy, and the listening a bit harder. I was really nervous, which was weird. I don’t mind talking to people around town, but as soon as it was called a test I got nervous. There were times when the questions would get harder, then all of a sudden they’d get easier again and I’d think “ooops…must not have answered that one correctly.” Overall it really wasn’t too bad. I think it was just mental. I know my Spanish has improved a lot in the last 2 years, but I was afraid for some crazy reason I’d end up in the same level class I was in Murcia. Not the case…The classes are divided into 6 levels…A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, with A1 and A2 being beginner, B1 and B2 being intermediate, and C1/C2 being advanced. I placed into C1. Heck yes! It made me wonder for a second if I should take the DELE exam in the spring. The DELE is basically the internationally recognized Spanish test to determine at what level you can work with the language. I’ve heard horror stories about how hard the DELE is and I really don’t need it, at least right now, for any of my career paths. I’d be curious to see how I’d do though. I would need to study a lot, but I’m still curious.

In the past this class has been free for auxiliaries, but as I was leaving one of the teachers organizing things told me to be prepared to pay for the class. Apparently it was free in the past because the junta (the government) would pick up the tab for the auxiliares. Since the economic crisis is so bad, apparently the junta doesn’t want to pay for us this year. She told me to e-mail a couple people, and we’ll see what happens, but she didn’t seem to have much hope that we’d get it for free. We’ll see… There was also a Spanish for business class available that I was really interested in. There was a theory part of the class, and a practicas section, where it sounds like we would actually be doing some sort of work in/with businesses in the area. It would be so amazing on a resume, but the teacher said the class will probably be offered in the middle of the day, when I’m teaching. Danggggg it.

After class we took the bus back, I went to the park to use the internet. Just like the old guys this morning all the elderly were out for their evening hang-out time with friends, lined up sitting on benches together at the park…cute little old ladies happily greeting each other with kisses on each cheek, men chatting over cigars…two really young girls were playing close to my bench, and when I pulled my laptop out to work they came over and checked it out. They were super cute, but eventually their moms told them to let me be. As soon as the battery on my computer died I went and got a chicken kebab for dinner. I had my first kebab in Murcia. Siles didn’t have them, and now they’re back (or rather I’m back in the land of the living and not the middle of nowhere). Some places make them awesome, and others, not so much. It’s a nice dinner when I don’t feel like cooking though, and its right by my house. And now here I am…sitting in my living room, watching TV (Sex in the City, then some CSI type show) while catching up on my blog. The wind has really kicked up. We keep our balcony door open for air flow, but it’s been slamming all the doors in our house all night. It’s also messed up the internet from the park. No connection tonight!

¡Buenas noches todos!