Today I woke up late and only got to one of my classes. I missed the first two. Javi, the director (principal), told me not to worry about it (probably because he knows I haven’t made a habit of just not showing up). At least I made it to the third class of the day. The first two I just help out in with the other teacher present. The third class I prepare completely…so of all the classes for me to wake up for that was the right one. Luckily I only live a few minutes away from the school.
The Day of Peace is tomorrow. Yesterday I tried teaching the 4th graders how to make origami cranes with instructions in English. They at least seemed to pay a little more attention but as an activity it really wasn’t a success. We didn’t have enough time, the kids wanted to finish even though they had to go to PE and we screwed up one step so the cranes didn’t really open very well. I reassured the kids that we could try again next week or later so they would let it go. Today we continued working on our MLK Jr. mini books in the 3rd grade class. I was really naïve to think we’d get it done in one class. We spent two cases working on it and kids still didn’t get it done. Also, a bunch of kids lost their book from last week so they had to start over. Apparently it doesn’t matter how many times I say “Don’t Lose it!” in either language. The books have about 7 pages and each page had a drawing for them to color and part of MLK Jr’s hope for the future. (MLK Jr hoped one day we could all work together. MLK hoped we could all pray together, etc, etc.) I was going to have us translate the text as a group but we didn’t have time.
During recess I spoke with Javi and Sebas. Javi mentioned in the past that the hardest part for the auxiliares is usually Christmas. It’s reassuring to know I’ve probably gotten over the hardest part. I also mentioned in my frustration that although I seemed to have made friends they never call me or invite me to do anything. He explained that’s just not how they do things around here…that he’s never called someone to ask if they wanted to do something. People just always run into each other and happen to decide to do something. That makes me feel better. At least it’s not me. I thought they just didn’t want to invite me to things and felt obligated to include me when they saw me. It also gives me a clear way to improve the situation without feeling like I’m imposing on people. I have to be the proactive one that calls people and tries to make plans. Good, good, good to know.
I went home and had hot soup and risotto because it’s COLD. There is snow in the mountains just above us. People are predicting that we probably have snow in the next few days. Daaaaaaaang it. Last week’s nice weather was such a tease! I can’t wait for spring!
I had juuuust laid down to take a nap when I got a call from Ben and Eve (I don’t usually take naps…I like the idea but usually end up trying to finish other tasks during the siesta time. It would figure the one day I try to take a nap someone actually calls me to make plans.). They were in Siles having lunch at the high school (the Thursday fancy lunch with the culinary students that I went to with the teachers a couple months ago). When they were done with lunch I met them at my school. They had come over with one of my adult pupils. Pilar, the wife of my adult pupil and a nurse who works in Puente Genave, also came with them because she is learning English. We all headed towards Mezquita to have a coffee. On the way Erika Martinez (the infamous mannequin head actress starring in their web series Pueblo) took some pictures with a dog. There was an old lady on the other side of the street giving us the evil eye, probably wondering who these freaks were carrying around a mannequin head in their backpack and then bothering a poor dog with their antics. Haha. At Mezquita we chatted, practiced English, made paper cranes, had a coffee and talked about projects. Pilar mentioned that Spanish people don’t have “projects” besides getting coffee. Haha. Eve and I talked about doing photo projects together. I would really like to try to go through my Artist Way book again and take on some photo projects. I have such amazing scenery at my disposal, and so much to take pictures of, and I just haven’t been able to make time to do it. Ben and Eve pointed out that maybe I have too many projects and to-dos running through my mind and I should focus on one a week. It’s a good idea…we’ll see how successful I am with it. I do have a habit of trying to multi-task to the extreme. They also mentioned that they choose not to give private lessons during their stay here because this is the one year in their lives they will have to relax…that they prefer not to make much money and have more time. Sometimes I wish I’d taken on that mentality, but I think it’s also impossible for me to have too much free time. At least Ben and Eve have each other in La Puerta…if I have too much time alone, not doing anything I get bored and depressed.
Having three Americans in Siles was pretty crazy. I told them they have to come back when Laura and Chelsea get here. 5 Americans would probably be some sort of record!
Around 7pm Ben and Eve went back to La Puerta. I left and tried to go to the grocery store. There were a couple guys outside of Mezquita (not Spanish guys…immigrants) who started shouting random words at me in English to get my attention. Sorry, I don’t respond to “Yes! Yes!” or “Rubia!” I can have an intelligent conversation. I’m a human being and I don’t respond to physical descriptors. Sorry.
I ran into Thomas and Silvia. I stressed again that next time they go out they should give me a call. Thomas also reassured me that I could call him anytime I was bored or wanted to “tomar algo.”
After that I ran into Maria del Mar and Eva (guess it’s true what Javi said about just running into people). We chatted briefly and they told me that apparently we’re doing Day of Peace activities tomorrow, but there’s no schedule and it depends on the weather. I knew we’re having a race at 12:30 but I didn’t know about any other activities.
I ran into Casa Gregorio to put a few euros on my phone, grabbed a small pack of M&Ms and headed home. I changed my clothes, went back to Mezquita to pick up the umbrella that I forgot and then headed to the gym.
Today was a good day. Some days feel really hard and others I’m just in a groove. Today was one of my ‘groove’ days. It was awesome…another 3 miles on the treadmill. Tomorrow is squats day though…we’ll see how that goes. Last week Javi told me I should do the squat machine once a week to start. He asked me yesterday if I wanted to do the machine. I explained…well…if you think I should I will…but I prefer to do it Friday so I have Saturday and Sunday to recoup (the gym isn’t open on the weekends). He laughed at me and said ok.
My walk home is always to longest and hardest part of going to the gym. I really can’t wait until I go to and come home from the gym when it’s still light outside and isn’t so cold. When I got home I made tortellini for dinner to warm up.
I added another private lesson today. That’s 2 more for the week. 8 private lessons a week and 2 intercambios, plus my normal classes and my adult class. I’m planning on taking a break from private lessons when Laura, Chelsea and Amy are here. I am going to really miss the extra income but I don’t want to spend all my time giving private lessons when they’re here. I’m afraid they are going to be bored enough in Siles as is!
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
FAIL BLOG: Spanish Post Office Version
I realized that I have failed to blog about the ultimate FAIL that is the Spanish post office and customs agency. My parents sent me 2 packages *weeks* ago. The boxes have my winter coat, a couple sweaters, ingredients to bake an American dessert for my co-workers, my Christmas presents and my make-up. They had to pay an exorbitant amount to the US post office to send the packages here. There was a 10 day guarantee (Ha…ha…ha.) I was waiting, waiting and finally one day I came home and there was a notice from the post office. I thought it was the notice saying the packages were in Siles and I could go to the post office to pick them up. The next day during my lunch break I giddily walked down from the infantil to go to the post office. When I got there the lady read the notice and said that the packages weren’t there. The packages were stuck in customs in Madrid. I had to fill out the form they sent me (with my personal information, name, phone number, e-mail, residency number, etc, etc) and fax it to the customs people. I did that and the lady in Correos (the post office) said that they would call me in a couple days to arrange a time to drop the packages off. I never heard from them so I eventually went back to the post office to see if she had heard anything. Nope. Nothing. She said if I still didn’t hear from them in a few more days to come back. Still nothing…back to the post office I go. Then she tells me that customs wants a list of what is in the box. Well *I* didn’t pack the boxes, so I really only had a general idea. I made a list of what I knew was in the boxes. Later I received a call from the lady in the post office saying I needed to make an exact list of what was in the boxes so customs could verify that what I *said* was in the boxes is what was *actually* in the boxes. I also needed to include the value of each item. Oh goodness gracious. So I asked my mom what my Christmas presents were, and got an exact list of what was in the boxes and their prices. I went back to the post office, filled out 2 more forms listing the information and we faxed THAT to customs. Once again I didn’t hear from them for awhile. I finally went back to the post office but she still hadn’t heard anything. She called the main post office in Madrid to see if she could get an update. The main post office said it looked like the boxes weren’t there anymore and were probably on their way to Siles. Almost two weeks later I still didn’t have the boxes in my possession. Insert profanity, frustration and astonishment here. I went back to the post office. She still didn’t know anything. Later that day I got an e-mail from the customs people. I had to pay 83 euros (over $100) in importation taxes and fees before January 23rd if I wanted to receive the packages or they were going to send them back to the US. (Sounds like a ransom notice, right?) There was an e-mail address available if you had questions about the notice. I sent them an e-mail asking for clarification on what exactly I was being forced to pay (On the notice it broke the charges down into 4 categories with various percentages based on numbers that seem to be chosen out of thin air…they didn’t correspond to the value of the packages). I asked them to clarify why I needed to pay so much for personal items (Christmas gifts and items I could pack in my suitcase without any problems) that I didn’t plan on selling or distributing. I received no response. It’s now January 26th and I still have no Christmas presents, no winter coat, no sweaters, no baking ingredients and no makeup. Spanish post office/customs = the Grinch who stole Christmas. Lame. I assume my packages are on their way back to the US. My parents are going to attempt to send me the important things in envelopes (I have no problems getting letters or large, soft envelopes. I only have problems receiving boxes). The rest of the things we’ll just have to save for a Christmas in June when I return to the US.
On another note, I sent my family and friends gifts a month and a half ago and nothing has arrived. Another expensive waste of time and money. I’ve never filled out an “hoja de reclamación” (complaint card…which are available for all business in Spain) but I have a feeling I will be filling one out VERY soon. No more Ms. Nice Extranjera.
On another note, I sent my family and friends gifts a month and a half ago and nothing has arrived. Another expensive waste of time and money. I’ve never filled out an “hoja de reclamación” (complaint card…which are available for all business in Spain) but I have a feeling I will be filling one out VERY soon. No more Ms. Nice Extranjera.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Holidays in Spain
Happy 2011!
Here’s a bit of a summary of how I spent my holidays…
Christmas Eve I was at home most of the day. Originally I was suppose to be with Almudena and her family that day, but they decided to spend Christmas Eve with her boyfriend’s family and it wasn’t really her place to invite me to that. So then I talked to Stefi and Edu about maybe spending Christmas Eve with them. They said that if Edu’s mom ending up coming over to their house for Christmas Eve that I could join them, but if she refused and they had to go to her house that I wouldn’t be able to come. It ended up that I wasn’t going to be able to go with them. Luckily for me Luis’ family doesn’t do anything for Christmas Eve, so he came and spent the day with me at my apartment. He made ham and mushroom risotto for lunch and brought a bottle of cava. Cava is like champagne, except since it’s from Catalonia it has a different name. We hung out most of the day and for dinner he cooked two other kinds of risotto…salmon risotto, and a chicken and cheese risotto. All of it was fantastic. After dinner I got dolled up in the dress I bought in Ubeda and a pair of heels (my first time attempting to wear heels for a night out in Siles). We met Luis’ brother at Pub JJ for a drink because Nicols wasn’t open yet (not open yet…at midnight!). After Pub JJ we went to Nicols and hung out for awhile. We had a drink, chatted and were given souvenir Nicols’ Santa hats. We left Nicols around 1:30 and walked to Luis’ house to get the car. (I can’t remember why we needed it). However, someone had parked behind the car and we couldn’t get it out so Luis’ brother and I walked up to my apartment while Luis got some things out of the house. At 2am I got to web chat with my family, and about 30 extended family members who were at my cousin’s house having Christmas Eve dinner. They took turns passing the computer around and then they put the computer at the end of the table so I could be apart of the dinner table prayer. Everyone started singing and I could tell Luis and Javi were amused and wondering what was going on. I ended the chat and then headed back out. We went to 1900 for awhile but it was really frustrating. The music was turned up RELALY loud making conversation virtually impossible for me. Plus, I got introduced to a guy whose accent I couldn’t understand very well, and who kept talking about things he didn’t really like about the US. I kept looking for a way out of the conversation, but it took awhile. Luis, Javi and I didn’t stay for too much longer. Javi went home and Luis and I went to the discoteca. Luis introduced me to a bunch of people at the discoteca, including a guy named Tom who is auditioning for a TV host role in Madrid. We drank and danced the night away, and I finally went to bed about 8am.
I like the fact that Spaniards have big crazy nights out for Christmas Eve, but I think there is one flaw in the tradition. Usually people here have a nice dinner for Christmas Eve, and a nice lunch for Christmas day. It was the first time in my life I’ve set an alarm for noon knowing I would only be getting four hours of sleep. It’s too bad people don’t have a nice dinner for Christmas instead of lunch so we have more time to recuperate after the previous night’s celebrations.
Christmas day starting off a little frantic and frustrating. I didn’t wake up right when I should have and so I rushed to get ready (I had been led to believe that people dressed up for Christmas). A couple weeks ago Almudena had told me that the lunch would be at her parents’ house. Last night when I saw her at the discoteca I confirmed with her and she said, no, the lunch was going to be at her house. This led to a whole slew of confusion on Christmas day, and me eventually showing up late to her parents where everyone was there waiting for me so they could eat. After eating our meat and seafood lunch (that’s the typical Christmas meal here) Almudena wanted me to take some pictures of the kids so we had a mini photo shoot with everyone that was there. Overall I was only at Almudena’s parents’ house about 2-3 hours, which is comparison to some lunches I’ve gone to is pretty short. I went home, relaxed and slept the rest of the day. A lot of people decided not to go out Christmas night because Christmas Eve had been so crazy.
New Years Eve I went to Hostal Cruz (a restaurant) with Luis and his parents. We had a big expensive meal (which Luis’ parents were generous enough to treat me to) and chatted with the people all around us. It felt like a big family gathering the way it was set up, except it was just a bunch of random people from the town all together. I met a lot of people, most of whom initially used Luis as my interpreter because they didn’t think I spoke Spanish. One of the older gentlemen there said that I could be Miss America or Miss North America. Haha. I got seated next to a girl from Germany (who is dating a guy living in Barcelona, originally from Siles). More than one person commented on the fact that they put the two guiris (foreigners) together. We had lots of tapas, wine, beer, our main courses, dessert and polvorones (cookies, chocolates, sweets). I had fish for my main course and Luis ordered the meat so we could try both. I really liked the meat dish and wish I had ordered it! We watched the countdown on TV and I was excited to eat my 12 grapes. Spaniards eat 12 grapes at midnight (one with each strike of the clock) and it’s supposed to bring you good luck in the coming year. The only thing that made this a little challenging was that the seeds aren’t pitted so you have to stuff a bunch of grapes in your mouth, eat around the seeds and then pick the seeds out after the clock has struck 12 times. Supposedly in some cities they were selling pitted grapes for New Years but sadly, Siles was not one of these towns. I guess that just makes my experience all the more authentic. The restaurant owner also gave everyone a bag of goodies (party hats, noisemakers, etc) to don while ringing in the New Year. After eating the grapes everyone went around the room wishing everyone a Happy New Year (¡Feliz año!) with the normal cheek kisses. Shortly after, the younger generations headed off to the bars. Luis and I headed off to Nicols. Luis’ parents stayed at Hostel Cruz but not for very long. We had a few drinks, chatted it up with people, hung out with the German girl and her Spanish boyfriend and eventually decided to go back to Hostal Cruz so I could see the older generation living it up. Haha. They were listening to music and dancing, and Ana, Luis “second mother” (who is super tiny) tried teaching me to dance. We stayed there for a little while, then headed off to Menphys. We ran into Maria and Almudena on the way. They were heading over to the discoteca so we decided to go straight there instead. Luis called up a friend in Barcelona to say ‘happy new year’ and then we went inside. It actually wasn’t too crowded when we showed up (around 3am). It didn’t take too long though before the place was PACKED. You really couldn’t dance. You just had to move around in the same place. I like going out in Spain but nights like this still stress me out. Maybe it’s because I treasure my American concept of personal space. Even if there is space it seems like people will just run into you without making much of an effort to go around. We stayed there for awhile, had a few drinks (I eventually changed out of my high heels and into the flats I stowed away in my purse) and later on we headed back to Nicols. It was a little less stressful there. I’m glad we went to the discoteca but *uffff* SO many people. I preferred Christmas Eve in the discoteca when there were still a lot of people, but not as many. I believe I finally went to bed around 7-8am.
And thaaaaaaaat was my holiday season in a nutshell. A *small* change from the typical low-key family gatherings I usually go to! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
¡Feliz navidad! ¡Feliz año Nuevo!
Here’s a bit of a summary of how I spent my holidays…
Christmas Eve I was at home most of the day. Originally I was suppose to be with Almudena and her family that day, but they decided to spend Christmas Eve with her boyfriend’s family and it wasn’t really her place to invite me to that. So then I talked to Stefi and Edu about maybe spending Christmas Eve with them. They said that if Edu’s mom ending up coming over to their house for Christmas Eve that I could join them, but if she refused and they had to go to her house that I wouldn’t be able to come. It ended up that I wasn’t going to be able to go with them. Luckily for me Luis’ family doesn’t do anything for Christmas Eve, so he came and spent the day with me at my apartment. He made ham and mushroom risotto for lunch and brought a bottle of cava. Cava is like champagne, except since it’s from Catalonia it has a different name. We hung out most of the day and for dinner he cooked two other kinds of risotto…salmon risotto, and a chicken and cheese risotto. All of it was fantastic. After dinner I got dolled up in the dress I bought in Ubeda and a pair of heels (my first time attempting to wear heels for a night out in Siles). We met Luis’ brother at Pub JJ for a drink because Nicols wasn’t open yet (not open yet…at midnight!). After Pub JJ we went to Nicols and hung out for awhile. We had a drink, chatted and were given souvenir Nicols’ Santa hats. We left Nicols around 1:30 and walked to Luis’ house to get the car. (I can’t remember why we needed it). However, someone had parked behind the car and we couldn’t get it out so Luis’ brother and I walked up to my apartment while Luis got some things out of the house. At 2am I got to web chat with my family, and about 30 extended family members who were at my cousin’s house having Christmas Eve dinner. They took turns passing the computer around and then they put the computer at the end of the table so I could be apart of the dinner table prayer. Everyone started singing and I could tell Luis and Javi were amused and wondering what was going on. I ended the chat and then headed back out. We went to 1900 for awhile but it was really frustrating. The music was turned up RELALY loud making conversation virtually impossible for me. Plus, I got introduced to a guy whose accent I couldn’t understand very well, and who kept talking about things he didn’t really like about the US. I kept looking for a way out of the conversation, but it took awhile. Luis, Javi and I didn’t stay for too much longer. Javi went home and Luis and I went to the discoteca. Luis introduced me to a bunch of people at the discoteca, including a guy named Tom who is auditioning for a TV host role in Madrid. We drank and danced the night away, and I finally went to bed about 8am.
I like the fact that Spaniards have big crazy nights out for Christmas Eve, but I think there is one flaw in the tradition. Usually people here have a nice dinner for Christmas Eve, and a nice lunch for Christmas day. It was the first time in my life I’ve set an alarm for noon knowing I would only be getting four hours of sleep. It’s too bad people don’t have a nice dinner for Christmas instead of lunch so we have more time to recuperate after the previous night’s celebrations.
Christmas day starting off a little frantic and frustrating. I didn’t wake up right when I should have and so I rushed to get ready (I had been led to believe that people dressed up for Christmas). A couple weeks ago Almudena had told me that the lunch would be at her parents’ house. Last night when I saw her at the discoteca I confirmed with her and she said, no, the lunch was going to be at her house. This led to a whole slew of confusion on Christmas day, and me eventually showing up late to her parents where everyone was there waiting for me so they could eat. After eating our meat and seafood lunch (that’s the typical Christmas meal here) Almudena wanted me to take some pictures of the kids so we had a mini photo shoot with everyone that was there. Overall I was only at Almudena’s parents’ house about 2-3 hours, which is comparison to some lunches I’ve gone to is pretty short. I went home, relaxed and slept the rest of the day. A lot of people decided not to go out Christmas night because Christmas Eve had been so crazy.
New Years Eve I went to Hostal Cruz (a restaurant) with Luis and his parents. We had a big expensive meal (which Luis’ parents were generous enough to treat me to) and chatted with the people all around us. It felt like a big family gathering the way it was set up, except it was just a bunch of random people from the town all together. I met a lot of people, most of whom initially used Luis as my interpreter because they didn’t think I spoke Spanish. One of the older gentlemen there said that I could be Miss America or Miss North America. Haha. I got seated next to a girl from Germany (who is dating a guy living in Barcelona, originally from Siles). More than one person commented on the fact that they put the two guiris (foreigners) together. We had lots of tapas, wine, beer, our main courses, dessert and polvorones (cookies, chocolates, sweets). I had fish for my main course and Luis ordered the meat so we could try both. I really liked the meat dish and wish I had ordered it! We watched the countdown on TV and I was excited to eat my 12 grapes. Spaniards eat 12 grapes at midnight (one with each strike of the clock) and it’s supposed to bring you good luck in the coming year. The only thing that made this a little challenging was that the seeds aren’t pitted so you have to stuff a bunch of grapes in your mouth, eat around the seeds and then pick the seeds out after the clock has struck 12 times. Supposedly in some cities they were selling pitted grapes for New Years but sadly, Siles was not one of these towns. I guess that just makes my experience all the more authentic. The restaurant owner also gave everyone a bag of goodies (party hats, noisemakers, etc) to don while ringing in the New Year. After eating the grapes everyone went around the room wishing everyone a Happy New Year (¡Feliz año!) with the normal cheek kisses. Shortly after, the younger generations headed off to the bars. Luis and I headed off to Nicols. Luis’ parents stayed at Hostel Cruz but not for very long. We had a few drinks, chatted it up with people, hung out with the German girl and her Spanish boyfriend and eventually decided to go back to Hostal Cruz so I could see the older generation living it up. Haha. They were listening to music and dancing, and Ana, Luis “second mother” (who is super tiny) tried teaching me to dance. We stayed there for a little while, then headed off to Menphys. We ran into Maria and Almudena on the way. They were heading over to the discoteca so we decided to go straight there instead. Luis called up a friend in Barcelona to say ‘happy new year’ and then we went inside. It actually wasn’t too crowded when we showed up (around 3am). It didn’t take too long though before the place was PACKED. You really couldn’t dance. You just had to move around in the same place. I like going out in Spain but nights like this still stress me out. Maybe it’s because I treasure my American concept of personal space. Even if there is space it seems like people will just run into you without making much of an effort to go around. We stayed there for awhile, had a few drinks (I eventually changed out of my high heels and into the flats I stowed away in my purse) and later on we headed back to Nicols. It was a little less stressful there. I’m glad we went to the discoteca but *uffff* SO many people. I preferred Christmas Eve in the discoteca when there were still a lot of people, but not as many. I believe I finally went to bed around 7-8am.
And thaaaaaaaat was my holiday season in a nutshell. A *small* change from the typical low-key family gatherings I usually go to! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!
¡Feliz navidad! ¡Feliz año Nuevo!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams
Today was a rollercoaster.
This morning I woke up and was feeling pretty good. I got a little dressed up because we were going to have the Christmas presentation and party at school. I went to school, but there were no lessons. I was just there to make my presence known. We goofed around for a little bit and then headed off to the retirement center with the 1st-4th graders. Each grade performed 2 songs (one in Spanish, one in English) while some of the teachers and older kids played instruments. I got a picture with one of the little kids (Carlos) because he was dressed as Santa. Maybe this is a better option for Santa Photo 2010? I think so!
After the kids finished with their songs we had juice and snacks and then headed back to the school. We were planning on combining the two schools (the 3-5 year olds with the 1st-6th graders) for a performance on the patio but the weather wasn’t very good. Because of this the younger kids stayed at the infantil. We had a party in the 4th grade classroom (food, music, etc). Then was the challenging part. We had to break up the party and wrangle all the kids back together so they could re-sing their songs here at the school. The 5th and 6th graders hadn’t gotten a chance to perform their songs and we still had to go through with the performance even though the younger kids and parents weren’t there. It was crazy, but the kids did a good job. The 5th and 6th graders finished with “Happy Christmas” and did an excellent job. They even did it twice because the teachers and other students requested an encore.
The English Christmas carols were the first dent in my armor. Up until this day I had been ok with the fact that I wasn’t going to be home with my family for Christmas (for the first time in my life). The second dent was hearing all the teachers talk about how they were going home to their cities to see their friends and family.
After the performance everyone went back to their respective classrooms for a little bit and I hung out in the teacher’s room. I didn’t want to leave for break without saying Merry Christmas to everyone. Finally school was over and all the teachers exchanged their Merry Christmas greetings and we headed out. I got closer and closer to tears but held myself together until after I went to the grocery store. Then, with my bags of groceries in one hand and an umbrella in the other I walked in the rain back to my apartment with tears streaming down my face.
I got into my apartment, pulled myself together and set to work. I stayed busy throughout the afternoon cleaning, doing laundry…just generally keeping myself busy.
Later that evening I met up with Luis and Pepe (different Pepe from my first posts here in Siles) at 1900. Everything was fine. I thought I had pulled myself together throughout the afternoon. Luis and I were talking about Christmas decorations, traditions, etc and then out of the blue I burst into tears all over again. I grabbed my coat and headed outside to get some air. I tried to pull myself together quickly. Pepe came outside to see what was going on. He just stood there and made sure I was ok. I walked back inside. Luis understood exactly what had set me off. I didn’t need to explain at all. However, apparently Pepe had been confused as hell. Haha. Before he stepped outside with me he was grilling Luis about what the heck he had done to make me cry. Poor Luis. Shortly after Pepe headed home. Luis and I played darts and I was fine the rest of the night. However, maybe I was still a little distracted because at one point I threw the dart, nailed the bottom of the dart board (the part without the circle of colors you are supposed to be aiming at) and shattered the dart tip. Ooops!
Hello Christmas Break! No more classes or private lessons for two weeks.
This morning I woke up and was feeling pretty good. I got a little dressed up because we were going to have the Christmas presentation and party at school. I went to school, but there were no lessons. I was just there to make my presence known. We goofed around for a little bit and then headed off to the retirement center with the 1st-4th graders. Each grade performed 2 songs (one in Spanish, one in English) while some of the teachers and older kids played instruments. I got a picture with one of the little kids (Carlos) because he was dressed as Santa. Maybe this is a better option for Santa Photo 2010? I think so!
After the kids finished with their songs we had juice and snacks and then headed back to the school. We were planning on combining the two schools (the 3-5 year olds with the 1st-6th graders) for a performance on the patio but the weather wasn’t very good. Because of this the younger kids stayed at the infantil. We had a party in the 4th grade classroom (food, music, etc). Then was the challenging part. We had to break up the party and wrangle all the kids back together so they could re-sing their songs here at the school. The 5th and 6th graders hadn’t gotten a chance to perform their songs and we still had to go through with the performance even though the younger kids and parents weren’t there. It was crazy, but the kids did a good job. The 5th and 6th graders finished with “Happy Christmas” and did an excellent job. They even did it twice because the teachers and other students requested an encore.
The English Christmas carols were the first dent in my armor. Up until this day I had been ok with the fact that I wasn’t going to be home with my family for Christmas (for the first time in my life). The second dent was hearing all the teachers talk about how they were going home to their cities to see their friends and family.
After the performance everyone went back to their respective classrooms for a little bit and I hung out in the teacher’s room. I didn’t want to leave for break without saying Merry Christmas to everyone. Finally school was over and all the teachers exchanged their Merry Christmas greetings and we headed out. I got closer and closer to tears but held myself together until after I went to the grocery store. Then, with my bags of groceries in one hand and an umbrella in the other I walked in the rain back to my apartment with tears streaming down my face.
I got into my apartment, pulled myself together and set to work. I stayed busy throughout the afternoon cleaning, doing laundry…just generally keeping myself busy.
Later that evening I met up with Luis and Pepe (different Pepe from my first posts here in Siles) at 1900. Everything was fine. I thought I had pulled myself together throughout the afternoon. Luis and I were talking about Christmas decorations, traditions, etc and then out of the blue I burst into tears all over again. I grabbed my coat and headed outside to get some air. I tried to pull myself together quickly. Pepe came outside to see what was going on. He just stood there and made sure I was ok. I walked back inside. Luis understood exactly what had set me off. I didn’t need to explain at all. However, apparently Pepe had been confused as hell. Haha. Before he stepped outside with me he was grilling Luis about what the heck he had done to make me cry. Poor Luis. Shortly after Pepe headed home. Luis and I played darts and I was fine the rest of the night. However, maybe I was still a little distracted because at one point I threw the dart, nailed the bottom of the dart board (the part without the circle of colors you are supposed to be aiming at) and shattered the dart tip. Ooops!
Hello Christmas Break! No more classes or private lessons for two weeks.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Another typical day in Siles
I really, really didn’t want to get up this morning, but it has turned into a very productive day. I visited the panaderia this morning to pick up a napolitana, then headed off to school. I ate my breakfast, bought a coffee and started working on my jeopardy board for the third grade science class.
I had class with the 4th graders and then headed down for the 3rd grade science lesson. We are at the end of a unit and they are going to have a test soon, so Maria del Mar wanted me to plan some sort of review lesson. I made the Jeopardy board with the categories invertebrates, vertebrates, ‘valoro mi mundo’ (about extinction, conservation, etc), and new words (words we didn’t get a chance to cover in class but that they should know). The new words category was a bonus and worth double the points. Overall it wasn’t quite as successful as I would have liked but the kids seemed to enjoy it. They didn’t remember hardly any of the words we’ve covered and were constantly looking things up in the dictionary. Also, some of the kids just didn’t get it…they would call out words that had already been guessed without consulting their team, or they would tell me over and over the same guess even though I told them it was wrong. Oh well…you live, you learn.
After class I had another cup of coffee. Thursdays are my half day but I decided to stay late to get more stuff done. I still had to finish up the Constitution Day mural and work on various Christmas activities. The egg carton Christmas tree is going up in the hallway and I am responsible for making the “Charity Christmas Tree” lettering. There’s also a Christmas mailbox and I need to make lettering for that too. Maria del Mar said next week we can do a Christmas lesson instead of a science lesson since they are at the end of the unit and we don’t have that much time left until Christmas break.
When I was working on the Constitution Day mural in the hallway I was so happy that the sun had finally decided to reappear. It’s been so rainy and gross here lately. Very Seattle-ish. I got paid again, which I wasn’t expecting. The school still hasn’t received money from the Ministry of Education to pay me so they are using their reserve and supply money to pay me. I didn’t think I was going to get paid for another couple of weeks so it was a lovely surprise. When I got the check I decided to leave school so I could try to cash it. When I got to the bank the door was closed and I was a bit frustrated. They were supposed to be open for another 15-20 minutes. Oh well, that’s life in Spain (Later I found out I was actually the idiot. One of the doors is always closed and you have to go in the other way). In the time I walked from the school to the bank the weather did a complete 180. It started hailing, and was windy with a mixture of a little snow and thunder. Madness! So much for my sun! I stopped at Mercardo Gerardo to pick up some groceries and Edu was laughing about all this crazy weather.
I picked up some bacon for dinner tonight (pasta carbonara is on the menu) and then headed across the street to another little shop. I had never been in before so I decided to check it out and see what was there. I met the people working there who were super nice. They chatted with me and I just looked around. On my way home I passed several shops selling Christmas stuff. I think I might pick up a strand of lights or something to make my apartment at least *a little* festive. I went home, had lunch, cleaned, and organized my fridge and cupboard. After having people over for a couple dinners I have so much more food than I did initially. I don’t know how I’m going to get through it before it all goes bad.
I got the ginger from Eve yesterday. I was going to bake my pumpkin pie today (finally!) but I forgot to take the pumpkin out of the freezer to thaw…maybe I’ll do it later…maybe tomorrow…
My private lesson in the afternoon got cancelled and then Luis came over to make me dinner. He is studying to be what I believe is the equivalent of a Certified Nursing Assistant. He had brought over some things he needed to study and I showed him the medical vocab that I have to study for my state medical interpreter’s test…basically the same stuff so maybe I’ll have him start quizzing me. We had dinner but he ended up spiking a high fever and headed home. Here’s hoping I don’t end up sick too!
I had class with the 4th graders and then headed down for the 3rd grade science lesson. We are at the end of a unit and they are going to have a test soon, so Maria del Mar wanted me to plan some sort of review lesson. I made the Jeopardy board with the categories invertebrates, vertebrates, ‘valoro mi mundo’ (about extinction, conservation, etc), and new words (words we didn’t get a chance to cover in class but that they should know). The new words category was a bonus and worth double the points. Overall it wasn’t quite as successful as I would have liked but the kids seemed to enjoy it. They didn’t remember hardly any of the words we’ve covered and were constantly looking things up in the dictionary. Also, some of the kids just didn’t get it…they would call out words that had already been guessed without consulting their team, or they would tell me over and over the same guess even though I told them it was wrong. Oh well…you live, you learn.
After class I had another cup of coffee. Thursdays are my half day but I decided to stay late to get more stuff done. I still had to finish up the Constitution Day mural and work on various Christmas activities. The egg carton Christmas tree is going up in the hallway and I am responsible for making the “Charity Christmas Tree” lettering. There’s also a Christmas mailbox and I need to make lettering for that too. Maria del Mar said next week we can do a Christmas lesson instead of a science lesson since they are at the end of the unit and we don’t have that much time left until Christmas break.
When I was working on the Constitution Day mural in the hallway I was so happy that the sun had finally decided to reappear. It’s been so rainy and gross here lately. Very Seattle-ish. I got paid again, which I wasn’t expecting. The school still hasn’t received money from the Ministry of Education to pay me so they are using their reserve and supply money to pay me. I didn’t think I was going to get paid for another couple of weeks so it was a lovely surprise. When I got the check I decided to leave school so I could try to cash it. When I got to the bank the door was closed and I was a bit frustrated. They were supposed to be open for another 15-20 minutes. Oh well, that’s life in Spain (Later I found out I was actually the idiot. One of the doors is always closed and you have to go in the other way). In the time I walked from the school to the bank the weather did a complete 180. It started hailing, and was windy with a mixture of a little snow and thunder. Madness! So much for my sun! I stopped at Mercardo Gerardo to pick up some groceries and Edu was laughing about all this crazy weather.
I picked up some bacon for dinner tonight (pasta carbonara is on the menu) and then headed across the street to another little shop. I had never been in before so I decided to check it out and see what was there. I met the people working there who were super nice. They chatted with me and I just looked around. On my way home I passed several shops selling Christmas stuff. I think I might pick up a strand of lights or something to make my apartment at least *a little* festive. I went home, had lunch, cleaned, and organized my fridge and cupboard. After having people over for a couple dinners I have so much more food than I did initially. I don’t know how I’m going to get through it before it all goes bad.
I got the ginger from Eve yesterday. I was going to bake my pumpkin pie today (finally!) but I forgot to take the pumpkin out of the freezer to thaw…maybe I’ll do it later…maybe tomorrow…
My private lesson in the afternoon got cancelled and then Luis came over to make me dinner. He is studying to be what I believe is the equivalent of a Certified Nursing Assistant. He had brought over some things he needed to study and I showed him the medical vocab that I have to study for my state medical interpreter’s test…basically the same stuff so maybe I’ll have him start quizzing me. We had dinner but he ended up spiking a high fever and headed home. Here’s hoping I don’t end up sick too!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
December???
Whoa, it’s the 1st of December? When did that happen?
I don’t want blogging to become a weekly thing instead of a daily thing, but maybe it will. Things have really started to pick up…well…that or I’m adapting to doing nothing so I’m better at wasting time. It’s amazing how 12 hours of work turns into so much more. Lesson planning and executing and private lessons, as well as all the little projects I’ve been taking on leave me without much time or motivation to update the blog on a nightly basis, although I know I’ll regret it later if I don’t keep it up.
Today was absolute madness. I’m pretty sure it could be classified as a hellion rebellion. Really, it was hard to believe actually. Not only was today my long day but the kids were off the wall crazy. I think it’s because we’ve mixed up the routine a little and have started doing activities related to Christmas. I’ve been told that whenever they get to this point in the school year the kids just start to go nuts. At various points in the day there were desks overturned, kids screaming like banshees up and down the hallways, green paint up to their eyebrows and of course, tears. Heaven help me. It almost didn’t seem real. I was working on a mural in the hallway and all of this seemed to be spinning around me in a dream-like fog.
The third grade class was pretty typical. Read something out of the book, ask comprehension questions, do activities in workbook.
The sixth grade class we started the Christmas cards for Steph’s students. They spent the entire time coloring and we’re going to have to finish on Friday. I only have one class a week with the sixth graders but Sebas has 2 classes with them. I told him I could come in on Friday even though I don’t usually work so we could finish the activity and get them in the mail. The kids really liked this activity. Woo hoo!
After recreo I had my time with Antonio’s 4th graders. They were multitasking. Antonio had said that instead of doing a science lesson with me this week he wanted to do something related to Constitution Day (which is December 6th). I had started a mural in the hallway and brought in images of the different Spanish rights mentioned in the Constitution (not all of them, just the basics). The kids were supposed to color them so we could put them on the mural. Well, half the kids were in class being crazy, the other half were painting green egg cartons for the Charity Christmas Tree in the hallway downstairs and so really it wasn’t much of a lesson. The kids colored the pictures when they were in the room and I pasted them to the mural.
My last class of the day was with the 2nd graders. Oh goodness. What a way to end the day. My feet were aching and I just wanted to sit down. Inés and I went around helping the kids with one of their workbook activities about animals and body parts (sharks with big teeth, fish with big eyes, swordfish with long ‘noses’ etc, etc).
Thank goodness tomorrow is Thursday and my half day.
I went home, ate lunch and fell into bed. My feet and whole body hurt. I chatted with Maria briefly, then decided to take a 20 minute nap. Thank goodness. I certainly didn’t want to get up after only 20 minutes but it did make me feel better. Then it was back to school for the adult class. With my first group we ended up chatting for an hour. The plan is normally to chat for half an hour and then work on grammar for half an hour, but when we checked the time and saw that an hour had already passed we were shocked. Marta, the main teacher, pointed out that next week is “puente” (vacation) and the week after they have an exam, and the week after that Christmas break starts, so I don’t need to come back until after the 7th of January. Whoa! How’s that for an unexpected little break! After that I went to the other group and they were doing a listening activity. I felt bad for them because I even thought it was hard to understand at times because the accent was so thick! We chatted about our weekends, our plans for puente, and Christmas. At one point, all of a sudden, Fernando (the main teacher of this group) got this worried look on his face… “Erica! What are doing for Christmas??” Haha, staying here in good ol’ Siles. I assured him that a friend had invited me to spend the day with her family and that I would be ok.
Fernando’s last day of teaching in Siles is this week (tomorrow). He has been here basically as a substitute because the ‘normal’ English teacher was in a car wreck and on leave. I have never met her. Saturday Fernando and his friends are going out for one last hurrah, so I’ll probably join them. He said if I feel like going to the beach that I could visit him in Huelva. I assured him that after a winter in Siles I would probably need it!
Juan (one of my ‘pupils’) also invited me to go to Madrid for puente with him and his family. I thought about it, but I’ve been to Madrid already, so I think I’ll just stay in Siles for a few days to go out with my friends (including those who aren’t usually here) and then go to Ubeda and Baeza on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for a small trip. Originally I’d been thinking of going to Malaga and Cadiz but decided I didn’t feel like traveling alone in the rain.
Also, I found out last week at our Thanksgiving dinner that Ben and Eve have ginger in their apartment! Eve gave it to one of the teachers in my adult class, who passed it onto me…so this weekend…it’s pie baking time!
A few random side notes I’ve forgotten to mention the last few days…
1.) I scheduled a trip to Murcia next month to visit Brittany and Roberto. I will be going there the 17th and coming back on the 19th.
2.) I bought my very first lottery ticket ever! It’s a Christmas lottery ticket…wouldn’t a few million euros be nice for the holidays! Haha
I don’t want blogging to become a weekly thing instead of a daily thing, but maybe it will. Things have really started to pick up…well…that or I’m adapting to doing nothing so I’m better at wasting time. It’s amazing how 12 hours of work turns into so much more. Lesson planning and executing and private lessons, as well as all the little projects I’ve been taking on leave me without much time or motivation to update the blog on a nightly basis, although I know I’ll regret it later if I don’t keep it up.
Today was absolute madness. I’m pretty sure it could be classified as a hellion rebellion. Really, it was hard to believe actually. Not only was today my long day but the kids were off the wall crazy. I think it’s because we’ve mixed up the routine a little and have started doing activities related to Christmas. I’ve been told that whenever they get to this point in the school year the kids just start to go nuts. At various points in the day there were desks overturned, kids screaming like banshees up and down the hallways, green paint up to their eyebrows and of course, tears. Heaven help me. It almost didn’t seem real. I was working on a mural in the hallway and all of this seemed to be spinning around me in a dream-like fog.
The third grade class was pretty typical. Read something out of the book, ask comprehension questions, do activities in workbook.
The sixth grade class we started the Christmas cards for Steph’s students. They spent the entire time coloring and we’re going to have to finish on Friday. I only have one class a week with the sixth graders but Sebas has 2 classes with them. I told him I could come in on Friday even though I don’t usually work so we could finish the activity and get them in the mail. The kids really liked this activity. Woo hoo!
After recreo I had my time with Antonio’s 4th graders. They were multitasking. Antonio had said that instead of doing a science lesson with me this week he wanted to do something related to Constitution Day (which is December 6th). I had started a mural in the hallway and brought in images of the different Spanish rights mentioned in the Constitution (not all of them, just the basics). The kids were supposed to color them so we could put them on the mural. Well, half the kids were in class being crazy, the other half were painting green egg cartons for the Charity Christmas Tree in the hallway downstairs and so really it wasn’t much of a lesson. The kids colored the pictures when they were in the room and I pasted them to the mural.
My last class of the day was with the 2nd graders. Oh goodness. What a way to end the day. My feet were aching and I just wanted to sit down. Inés and I went around helping the kids with one of their workbook activities about animals and body parts (sharks with big teeth, fish with big eyes, swordfish with long ‘noses’ etc, etc).
Thank goodness tomorrow is Thursday and my half day.
I went home, ate lunch and fell into bed. My feet and whole body hurt. I chatted with Maria briefly, then decided to take a 20 minute nap. Thank goodness. I certainly didn’t want to get up after only 20 minutes but it did make me feel better. Then it was back to school for the adult class. With my first group we ended up chatting for an hour. The plan is normally to chat for half an hour and then work on grammar for half an hour, but when we checked the time and saw that an hour had already passed we were shocked. Marta, the main teacher, pointed out that next week is “puente” (vacation) and the week after they have an exam, and the week after that Christmas break starts, so I don’t need to come back until after the 7th of January. Whoa! How’s that for an unexpected little break! After that I went to the other group and they were doing a listening activity. I felt bad for them because I even thought it was hard to understand at times because the accent was so thick! We chatted about our weekends, our plans for puente, and Christmas. At one point, all of a sudden, Fernando (the main teacher of this group) got this worried look on his face… “Erica! What are doing for Christmas??” Haha, staying here in good ol’ Siles. I assured him that a friend had invited me to spend the day with her family and that I would be ok.
Fernando’s last day of teaching in Siles is this week (tomorrow). He has been here basically as a substitute because the ‘normal’ English teacher was in a car wreck and on leave. I have never met her. Saturday Fernando and his friends are going out for one last hurrah, so I’ll probably join them. He said if I feel like going to the beach that I could visit him in Huelva. I assured him that after a winter in Siles I would probably need it!
Juan (one of my ‘pupils’) also invited me to go to Madrid for puente with him and his family. I thought about it, but I’ve been to Madrid already, so I think I’ll just stay in Siles for a few days to go out with my friends (including those who aren’t usually here) and then go to Ubeda and Baeza on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for a small trip. Originally I’d been thinking of going to Malaga and Cadiz but decided I didn’t feel like traveling alone in the rain.
Also, I found out last week at our Thanksgiving dinner that Ben and Eve have ginger in their apartment! Eve gave it to one of the teachers in my adult class, who passed it onto me…so this weekend…it’s pie baking time!
A few random side notes I’ve forgotten to mention the last few days…
1.) I scheduled a trip to Murcia next month to visit Brittany and Roberto. I will be going there the 17th and coming back on the 19th.
2.) I bought my very first lottery ticket ever! It’s a Christmas lottery ticket…wouldn’t a few million euros be nice for the holidays! Haha
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