Gym, Letters and a Visitor

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this in my blog yet, but during Christmas break a gym opened up here in Siles. I started going because I had so much free time and it was something to do. Originally I was going with Almudena, and she would pick me up in her car but our schedules aren’t meshing very well anymore. That means I get to walk to the gym and back. Really, it isn’t that far. It is however the worst part of going to the gym because after working out my body is hot and it’s really cold outside. The contrast isn’t fun, comfortable or good for me. However, I am loving going to the gym 4-5 days a week. The gym isn’t open on the weekends so I feel more motivated to make sure I go Monday through Friday since I automatically get 2 days off.

Today I did 5 miles on the treadmill. Several years ago I used to love to go run 3 miles but I haven’t been able to do it in a long time. My knees, motivation and time restraints seemed to give me a plethora of reasons not to get it done. I also did 10 minutes on the bike and my entire weight-lifting workout (upping the weight for lots of the machines). Needless to say it was a good workout day (with the exception that dropped a weight on my pinkie and am a little afraid I might lose the nail). It’s really nice because the two guys that run the gym are basically my personal trainers, except I don’t have to pay extra for them. The gym is, of course, smaller than the YMCA I go to in the US but I like it. I still have everything I need and the smaller, tighter environment leaves me more accountable and the trainers more accessible. They know when I show up and when I don’t.

It was also a good day because I got mail. Sadly it still wasn’t my long-lost Christmas packages but I was still very happy. I got Grace and Espen’s wedding save the date and I got a Christmas card from Stephanie and Kyle with the letters that Stephanie’s students wrote my students. I love seeing little envelopes in front of my door when I get home.

Also, Inés stopped in today to say today. She didn’t even know it was her last day until it was her last day. I can’t believe the turn around in those situations is so fast! It was really good to see her. The guy who replaced Inés is already gone. A new teacher named Eugenia is here now and will be teaching Inés second graders as well as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade English classes. Like I originally thought the Ministry of Education was supposed to send a replacement for Inés that speaks English, so “New Antonio” couldn’t stay. At least that makes mentioning Antonio(s) in my blog a little easier!

Hope to see you soon Inés

Today was a crazy day, and kind of sad. Inés got a new job in Orcera and is no longer working at the school. I found out on the day of the field trip to Jaén that she had received the new job and that she would be replaced sometime in January. No one knew though exactly when she would be replaced. They were just waiting for her Ministry of Education assigned replacement to show up on our school doorsteps. Inés was at school on Monday, I was at the infantil on Tuesday and today when I went to school she wasn’t there. I’m assuming she probably said her goodbyes at the staff meeting last night. I’m not required to go to the staff meetings so I got the not-so-fun surprise this morning. I was thinking that at least her replacement would probably be someone else that speaks English, since Inés is responsible for some of the English classes, but that’s not the case. Since the new teacher, Antonio (yes, we now have 2 teachers named Antonio at the school) doesn’t speak English there was a bit of shuffling with the schedule today. When I showed up in the English classroom with Sebas he told me that I needed to go to Antonio (not the new teacher)’s classroom and that he was going to be teaching the 3rd grade English class from now on. Huuuuuuh? They are reassigning Sebas to something different for that hour (but they don’t know what yet) which really baffles me. Inés leaving doesn’t impact this class at all and Sebas is still at the school and available to teach the class, so I don’t know why they switched. Anyways, after the 3rd grade class with Antonio I had class with the 6th graders with Sebas. After that it was time for recess. During recess I finished preparing a game of Memory using the new science vocabulary words for the 4th graders. They are starting a new chapter about the muscular, skeletal and excretory systems. Antonio and I talked and thought we would try restructuring that class so the kids could have more time practicing with me in a smaller group. Instead of doing the class all together we split the class in two 30 minute chunks. Antonio taught the new material in one classroom with 10 students and I played the Memory game to practice vocabulary and pronunciation in another room with the other 10 kids. I really thought it would be fun…and to a certain extent it was but the kids are so disobedient. It really took the fun out of it. They would not participate in saying the words with me, they would secretly move the cards to new places or turn over multiple cards, or sneak peeks and cheat…I was fed up by the time both groups had come through. Theeeeeeeen I had to go to the 2nd grade classroom. Inés was the 2nd grade teacher so I was with Antonio (again, not the new teacher). Antonio is responsible for teaching the 2nd graders English now. However, because Inés was replaced so quickly Antonio had to immediately step into this role without knowing where in the book the kids were, where the materials in the class are, what Inés usually does with the kids or how to incorporate me. It was chaos and after such a long day Antonio and I were wiped. I’m sure in a week or so we’ll get it all figured out, but I was seriously so tired by the end of the school day.

I went home and sat in bed for awhile, but a little after 4pm I had to head back to the school for the adult class. This was my first time going to the adult class in weeks and the first time going since Fernando left. Sad day. Seems like all the teachers I connect with the best end up leaving! The first hour (with the first group of adults) went pretty well. We talked about our Christmas vacations and then did a grammar exercise. The second group was more challenging. They can’t speak English as well so their descriptions of their vacations were very short and didn’t take up all the class time. We had to improvise from there. It was slow going for awhile, but eventually we clicked and got conversation rolling a little. Fernando’s replacement is from Granada. She invited me to go on walks with her and some other people on Mondays.

After class I was planning on going directly to the gym but decided to go to the grocery store first. I went to Día, then to my apartment to drop off the food. I changed my clothes and headed off for another workout.

I ran into Diego on my way to the gym. Diego is another new teacher that started just before Christmas break. He was actually in Siles at the beginning of the school year (and living in my apartment!) but got a leave of absence until now. I stopped and chatted with him for a bit. We were both frustrated with how hard it is to get to kids to behave and how hard it is to plan lessons that they can learn from and also think are fun.

Anyways, off to the gym I continued. I have two preset workouts that the trainer made for me that I alternate through. It’s interesting because some days it seems so hard and other days it seems so easy, even though the weight, repetitions and exercises are the same. I stayed a little extra time on the elliptical after finishing my lifting exercises because I knew there were Oreos waiting for me at home. :)

I hope I sleep better tonight. The last couple nights have been awful. I’ve had this stupid cough for several weeks now, but starting last Friday it got significantly worse and has been keeping me awake (or waking me up). The last two nights I’ve actually ended up throwing up because the cough is so strong and persistent. Lame. I went to the doctors yesterday to get it checked out. I really like the socialized medical system, but at the same time I left the doctor’s office a little wary and unsatisfied. Both times I’ve gone in the doctor asks me what’s going on and will maybe ask a couple questions from the information I give him and then he writes me a prescription. No, that doesn’t sound so bad, but especially this time my main concern was my lungs. I feel like I’ve just had fluid sitting in the very bottom pit of my lungs for weeks and he didn’t even listen to my chest or breathing. No examination whatsoever. He told me it’s the season for being sick, take the medicine he prescribed and I should feel better, but if not I could take the medicine from the second prescription he was giving me ‘just in case.’ He didn’t even know what “Hand Foot Mouth” disease was went in with it last month. He just prescribed me a medicine for a skin infection that wasn’t going to do anything. At least medicine is super cheap! I got both of my prescriptions for 3 euro and some change, with no co-pay and a free doctor’s visit. That part is pretty sweet. I feel like the medicine is helping, but not in a way that is giving me immediate relief. The medicine is just supposed to help me expel the mucous in my lungs. Yes, ultimately that is what I need, however, it doesn’t stop my cough, it encourages it. At least my coughs do seem more effective. C’mon cough, just take a little break so I can get some decent sleep and have the energy to deal with all those kids!

Side note…my goal of going out everyday to work in my Spanish workbooks and sit in Mezquita…not going to happen. Not a chance! My life went from being super relaxing, with too much free time, to absolutely jam-packed overnight. I’ve added a bunch of new private lesson students, the intercambios with Paco and books I’ve received from him to read, the trips to the gym and classes are back in session which means lesson planning. At least I can’t say I’m bored anymore!

Also, a group of 4th grade girls asked for my autograph today. Haha. They were actually asking for all the teachers’ autographs, but I still thought it was pretty funny. Ohhh kids.

Are there any scanners in Siles?

After my post this morning I managed to get a few more hours of sleep. I woke up at a normal hour so hopefully that will put me on a normal sleep schedule. I got ready, made some eggs for breakfast and headed off to school.

At school I met with Inés to try and get a schedule set-up. Inés is trying so hard to incorporate all the school’s needs with the Cultural Ambassadors program standards, with me having Fridays off and also not putting a bunch of breaks in between my classes (so I’m not there all day just to teach an hour or two and have the ability to travel on weekends.). It’s proving to be quite the challenge. My schedule is not ‘set in stone’ (a phrase I taught Inés today) but hopefully Javier (the “head teacher” aka principal) will ok it this afternoon. I will be working mostly with Sebas, Inés and the preschool teachers. Sebas is the main English teacher (and also the one who gave me directions to buy towels yesterday) and Inés fills in the blocks that Sebas can’t get to. I will also be working with an adult group from the EOI (the local language school) once a week for an hour in the afternoon. My task for this weekend is to create a powerpoint of my life/country/city that the kids can see on Monday. At this point it is hard to know what level of vocabulary to use, but as time goes by I will have a better idea of where the kids are at. When Inés was talking to me there were 4 of her second grade students in the room helping her get papers organized. Pedro, Rocio, Antonio, and the 4th who hide from me under the desk (Hey, at least 3 of the 4 kids liked me…and realistically the 4th was just playing with me.). Inés frequently switches between English and Spanish when talking to me. Pedro and Rocio giggled when she spoke in English. They think she sounds funny in another language. I can only imagine what that means for me! The kids were super cute though.

My next task for the day was to find a place I could get my passport scanned. The Cultural Ambassadors program needed me to send them an electronic copy of my passport via e-mail so I can get paid. In Siles, a town where it’s hard to find towels and the internet access leaves something to be desired…how many scanners do you think there are? Answer: One. When I was at school I asked Inés where I could scan something and she didn’t know. She suggested I go to Correos, the post office. So I headed in the general direction of Correos and got lost. Instead I found the other side of El Cubo.



I also met an old man who tried to sell me socks. Haha. Not sure what it is about me that said “Hey, she needs socks!” I continued on and managed to find Correos, but they didn’t have a scanner. I got a hard copy instead thinking maybe I would just have to mail it somewhere. On my way home I saw the bookstore that Silvia and I went to earlier this week. I stopped in and asked her where I could find a scanner. She pointed me in the direction of Casa Gregorio, one street up. On my way I remembered that there is a locutorio (a place to use computers) close by on El Paseo. I stopped there first but they couldn’t scan things either. The man there also pointed me towards Casa Gregorio. He gave me specific directions and sent me on my way. I got there and sure enough, he could scan it for me. He also had phones there. I asked about getting my old Spanish phone fixed. He said I would have to go to a Movistar and buy a new number because I hadn’t added “saldo” (money to use on a prepaid phone) in more than 6 months. Well the nearest Movistar is 20km away so I asked him about getting a new Spanish phone. (He sells Vodaphone phones). In 2 weeks he is getting more in, so I’ll probably buy a new phone then. Only $19 euro. It will be worth it to have a way people can get in touch with me, and that I can call others with and not have to use my expensive American phone. After that I stopped in at one more store to get some Siles postcards and a snack and then finally headed home.

It’s Friday. I wonder what people do on Friday. I think I’ll at least go to the restaurant by the discoteca for dinner so I can check it out. I need to figure out how I can meet people my age. I’m hoping once I actually start teaching classes I will connect better with the teachers and be able to go out with them. Right now I only stop in during their recess and don’t really get to talk to them much. I’m hoping Sebas and I will get along well since I will be spending so much time in his classes.

So far a successful day. It’s funny…success in the US is trying to get my to-do list of 50 things done that day, and success here is finding a scanner. I could get used to this…

Siles from Inés' point of view

I realized I forgot to mention that someone from my school in Siles contacted me, Inés. We've been sending e-mails back and forth and she's been a real stress-reducer. It is so nice to be chatting with someone over there who is welcoming and can help answer my 500 questions.

Here is the information I have gathered from her so far.
-Most people fly into Barcelona or Madrid, and then take a train to Albacete. She said someone can pick me up there, but I've also found a bus that runs twice a day to Siles from Albacete. From Albacete to Siles it takes about 1 and a half hours driving.
-There are two hostels in Siles.
-Siles a small village in the mountains.
-A lot of primary school teachers and secondary school teachers from all over Andalucía come to spend the school year in Siles and there will probably be someone I can share a flat with.
-The school year has already started and I will be supporting teachers in the speaking tasks with kids "from 3 to 12 years." I'm not sure yet if that means grades 3-12 or 3-12 years old.
-It is quite cold during the winter. It's a Natural Park, so if you like trecking, or other mountain sports, you'll like it. During the summer, late spring, it starts to get very hot.
-There is internet at school, at the village public library, and at the social centre. There's no WiFi yet at the village.
-The hours I will work vary from one day to another. I probably won't be working on Fridays.
-There are other assistants in villages nearby, but not in the same village.

And that's about all I know. Haha.

I must come across very panicked in my e-mails because she frequently mentions "Don't worry. Don't think about it too much. Let things happen and relax a bit. It will be ok. We'll figure it out when you get here." Haha, I'm definitely heading back into the Spanish way of life!