Well today certain wasn’t my favorite day ever, but I did accomplish what I needed to get done.
After missing the bus I came home, dried off a little and pulled my hair back (wasn’t going to bother re-doing it after standing in the rain), then headed down to Rincon de Maxi for a café con leche, and so I could be right next to the bus stop. I was the only girl there, which was a little awkward. I drank my coffee and then headed to the bus stop at 7:45am. It was still windy and unlucky for me I was downwind. I’m surrounded by cigarette smoke all the time now, but the smell of these cigarettes made me nauseous. I felt a little sick the entire bus ride…all 4 hours of it. When on the bus I got a call from Ben and Ava saying they had already finished up with their appointments but they would wait for me so we could take the bus back together.
When I arrived at the bus station in Jaén it was sprinkling but not too bad. I started walking to the extranjeria but the rain just got worse and worse. The wind was blowing too. I didn’t buy an umbrella because I was already soaked, so it wasn’t going to do any good. Plus the wind was just mutilating other people’s umbrellas…also not doing them any good. I was a drowned rat by the time I got to the office. I’m not homesick yet so I don’t appreciate the weather trying to “make me feel more at home here” by raining buckets. Getting stuck in a storm like that also doesn't help me get over this stupid cold. I definitely feel like I've been set back a few steps with that.
Behind me in line at the extranjeria was a guy named Andy from Bellingham who just got placed with the auxiliares program…and I thought *I* got placed late!!! I was seen almost right away, got my finger printing done, then headed out to get coffee with Ben and Ava and another auxiliar. We decided to get Mexican food for lunch, but drank our coffee while we were waiting for it to open. We exchanged stories about life in small towns and teaching and then went to lunch. We had enchiladas for lunch and they were really good, but way too much food. We signed the restaurant guest book then headed for the bus station.
The next bus that I knew about was at 7:30pm and it was only 3:30pm but we thought we would check to make sure there wasn’t an earlier bus, or to double check that the evening bus was going to leave at 7:30. Luckily for us there was a bus getting ready to leave right as we got there. It wasn’t going all the way to Siles, but it was going to La Puerta where Ben and Ava live. We figured I could find a bus to Siles from there, or worst case scenario stay at their apartment until the 7:30 bus made its way down to La Puerta.
I listened to music and dozed on and off throughout the entire bus ride. I was cold. I was drying out…but spending that many hours in wet shoes is not fun, especially when I am already trying to get over a cold. We arrived in La Puerta at 6:40pm and the bus driver said there would be a bus to Siles coming at 7:05 or 7:10. We ran to their apartment really quickly so I could see it, and then saw their usual bar hangout. After that I walked quickly back to the bus stop in time to catch the bus to Siles.
Now, I generally like the fact that I’ve been placed in Siles. Even though it’s a small town, where everyone is in everyone else’s business and there aren’t many places you can go out at night, I think it’s a good place for me to be. My one frustration right now is how difficult it is to get in and out of the town using the buses. La Puerta is a less than 20 minute drive from Siles. However, on the bus it takes an hour! It doesn’t take that long because we make frequent stops. We just have to take all the side roads to get to all the other tiny little towns and make sure no one needs to be picked up there. I saw signs that said “Siles: 13km” approximately every ten minutes but we weren’t getting any closer! Not even the Celine Dion CD the male bus driver was playing could make me want to stay on that bus any longer. After such a long day it was such a tease to be sooooooo close and have it take soooooo long to get home. I couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment, get into some warm clothes and climb under the covers.
I finally arrived and had a heck of a sweet tooth. I tried going to the grocery store but apparently they decided to close at least 15 minutes early tonight. None of the other stores were open either. Blast! No sweets for me. Siles, I thank you for improving my eating habits…but I don’t always like you for it!
I can’t believe tomorrow is Wednesday, my busy day. I don’t know why it is so tiring to sit on a bus all day, but it is. I am totally wiped. I’ll definitely need a nap tomorrow.
All my paperwork in Jaén is done now. All I have to do is go back sometime after December 20th to pick up my actual residency card. Inés called me when I was on the bus back to Siles to check up on me and see how things went. I told her I would probably have to wait until the second week of January to pick up my card because it wouldn’t be ready until the week of Christmas. She said people would be in the office until the 24th, and that I should go get it, but I don’t think she realizes that the 20-23rd is a Monday-Thursday and I work everyday. Oh well…I’m not really concerned about it. Ben and Ava already got paid and they don’t have their residency cards in hand yet, and I already opened a bank account…so I don’t really need my residency card in hand for anything urgently.
I feel like I had more to say, but I can’t remember right now. I’m headed to bed…if I think of it later I’ll add another post.
Good night all!
Showing posts with label Jaen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jaen. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
This is my angry face
It is currently 6:45am. I've been up for over two hours to assure myself that I would get to the bus in time.
Guess what...
The bus comes at 6:15am, not 6:30am.
I was alarmed when I went to the bus stop and didn't see the bus, because usually it sits there running for awhile before it's time to leave. I worried it had left a little early this morning. I stood there in the wind and rain for awhile (the weather has been absolutely nasty since last night), growing more anxious as 6:30 came and went. Finally someone came out of the nearby cafe and told me the bus left at 6:15. Damn.
I went into the cafe and the waiter said that there is another bus at 8am. I hope it's true. Supposedly it gets to Jaén at 12:30pm and there is a bus that leaves Jaén to come back to Siles at 7:30pm, but doesn't get here until 11:30pm.
This is me now.
I hope this day doesn't have any more surprises for me.
Guess what...
The bus comes at 6:15am, not 6:30am.
I was alarmed when I went to the bus stop and didn't see the bus, because usually it sits there running for awhile before it's time to leave. I worried it had left a little early this morning. I stood there in the wind and rain for awhile (the weather has been absolutely nasty since last night), growing more anxious as 6:30 came and went. Finally someone came out of the nearby cafe and told me the bus left at 6:15. Damn.
I went into the cafe and the waiter said that there is another bus at 8am. I hope it's true. Supposedly it gets to Jaén at 12:30pm and there is a bus that leaves Jaén to come back to Siles at 7:30pm, but doesn't get here until 11:30pm.
This is me now.
I hope this day doesn't have any more surprises for me.
Monday, November 8, 2010
November = the beginning of hibernation
Saturday:
Saturday I met Luis at Mezquita for a beer in the evening. We called Fernando too, but he said the night before had been crazy and he was tired. We moved over to Nicols and hung out there for awhile until we saw Edu (Steffi's husband). He invited us over to one of his friend's apartment. We headed that way but when we got there Steffi said that the people weren't really comfortable with random people dropping by and also they had just been talking about a sensitive subject and the woman was really upset...not exactly a party going on...Steffi said she would try to meet up with us in a little while. We went back to Nicols, had another drink, didn't end up hearing from Steffi again and so eventually we just went home.
Sunday:
Almudena showed up at my door around 4:45pm and I was in sweats and hadn't showered all day. I hopped in the shower quickly and met Almudena down at Nicols. There I met some of her other friends. Almudena was able to stay until 6pm but then I stayed and hung out with her friends. We went to Rincon de Maxi (another cafe) for a refresco and a tapa, and then we all went home. I watched a movie, hung out a bit and then went to bed.
Monday, Today:
I had such high hopes for getting things done today.
That didn't happen.
The weather here today has been so gross. It's been really windy. I'm glad I at least made a few friends before everyone went into hibernation!
The dust tends to collect quite rapidly in my apartment, so today was going to be my cleaning day. I got about half done. The mop and broom and dustpan are laying about and the dishes haven't been done. I did manage to get a load of laundry done. I figure if I do small loads of laundry frequently I won't have to worry about running out of clothes while they are drying.
Tomorrow is my trip to Jaén. Ava and Ben have already left, and no one at school can drive this time so I'm going to take the bus. The bus leaves at 6:30 in the morning. Yikes. I just realized that usually I buy my bus tickets online and print them out...but since I don't have a printer I'm not totally sure what to do. Do I go somewhere and try to find a printer? Can I pay when I get on the bus in the morning? I have no clue. I'm going to have to do some research.
I will be arriving in Jaén at 10:15. I will have 2 hours and 15 minutes to find my way to the extranjeria, have my appointment, and get back to the bus station to catch the bus back to Siles at 12:30. Supposedly there is another bus that leaves late in the evening. I could always try to find this bus if I miss the 12:30 one, but I have not found this mystery evening bus anywhere on any of the bus schedules.
It's going to be tight. Inés said, worst case scenario I can call her and tell her I won't be around to teach on Wednesday if I get stuck in Jaén. What craziness. All for a 10 minute appointment in a city 2 1/2 hours away.
This morning I woke up, went to school and taught the 1st and 5th graders. I had the 5th graders first. Sebas is back. He said the trip went really well and that the kids were very well behaved. He took most of the class like usual and I took a group of 4. Two of my kids were good. One was ok. One made me want to pull my hair out. The cabinet on wheels with the laptops on it happened to be in the room we were in and he WOULD NOT stop asking to use the computers. He was a total pain in the butt. He wouldn't do the exercises I told him to do, he would mumble his way through anything I asked him to read and then he tried to cheat off his friend's work so he could get it done faster and have time to use the computers. Grrrrrrr. I was so frustrated.
After that I had a break that I used to try and find free recordings of kids songs and nursery rhymes for the little kids and for Ines to use (specifically the One Two Buckle My Shoe song). If any of you teacher friends of mine have good website ideas about where I can get this kind of stuff let me know please! I had some luck, but eventually it was time to teach the 1st graders. Inés already had an activity planned so I didn't need to prepare anything. She had drawn up a shoe that she photocopied for each of the students, and then I helped glue them to some stronger paper. The kids were each given a shoe to color, then we poked holes where the laces would be and gave them each a string of twine so we could teach them how to tie shoes. We sang the "One Two Buckle My Shoe" song and let them color. Pretty low key day for me in this class.
I headed back to my apartment when school was over and have been tucked under the covers surfing the internet basically all afternoon. I should run down to the ATM to at least get some money for my bus ticket tomorrow but I won't be surprised if that's all I do. I should probably go to bed early anyways since the bus leaves at 6:30aaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The weather is really messing with my go-get-em, meeting people attitude. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when there is snow on the ground.
Saturday I met Luis at Mezquita for a beer in the evening. We called Fernando too, but he said the night before had been crazy and he was tired. We moved over to Nicols and hung out there for awhile until we saw Edu (Steffi's husband). He invited us over to one of his friend's apartment. We headed that way but when we got there Steffi said that the people weren't really comfortable with random people dropping by and also they had just been talking about a sensitive subject and the woman was really upset...not exactly a party going on...Steffi said she would try to meet up with us in a little while. We went back to Nicols, had another drink, didn't end up hearing from Steffi again and so eventually we just went home.
Sunday:
Almudena showed up at my door around 4:45pm and I was in sweats and hadn't showered all day. I hopped in the shower quickly and met Almudena down at Nicols. There I met some of her other friends. Almudena was able to stay until 6pm but then I stayed and hung out with her friends. We went to Rincon de Maxi (another cafe) for a refresco and a tapa, and then we all went home. I watched a movie, hung out a bit and then went to bed.
Monday, Today:
I had such high hopes for getting things done today.
That didn't happen.
The weather here today has been so gross. It's been really windy. I'm glad I at least made a few friends before everyone went into hibernation!
The dust tends to collect quite rapidly in my apartment, so today was going to be my cleaning day. I got about half done. The mop and broom and dustpan are laying about and the dishes haven't been done. I did manage to get a load of laundry done. I figure if I do small loads of laundry frequently I won't have to worry about running out of clothes while they are drying.
Tomorrow is my trip to Jaén. Ava and Ben have already left, and no one at school can drive this time so I'm going to take the bus. The bus leaves at 6:30 in the morning. Yikes. I just realized that usually I buy my bus tickets online and print them out...but since I don't have a printer I'm not totally sure what to do. Do I go somewhere and try to find a printer? Can I pay when I get on the bus in the morning? I have no clue. I'm going to have to do some research.
I will be arriving in Jaén at 10:15. I will have 2 hours and 15 minutes to find my way to the extranjeria, have my appointment, and get back to the bus station to catch the bus back to Siles at 12:30. Supposedly there is another bus that leaves late in the evening. I could always try to find this bus if I miss the 12:30 one, but I have not found this mystery evening bus anywhere on any of the bus schedules.
It's going to be tight. Inés said, worst case scenario I can call her and tell her I won't be around to teach on Wednesday if I get stuck in Jaén. What craziness. All for a 10 minute appointment in a city 2 1/2 hours away.
This morning I woke up, went to school and taught the 1st and 5th graders. I had the 5th graders first. Sebas is back. He said the trip went really well and that the kids were very well behaved. He took most of the class like usual and I took a group of 4. Two of my kids were good. One was ok. One made me want to pull my hair out. The cabinet on wheels with the laptops on it happened to be in the room we were in and he WOULD NOT stop asking to use the computers. He was a total pain in the butt. He wouldn't do the exercises I told him to do, he would mumble his way through anything I asked him to read and then he tried to cheat off his friend's work so he could get it done faster and have time to use the computers. Grrrrrrr. I was so frustrated.
After that I had a break that I used to try and find free recordings of kids songs and nursery rhymes for the little kids and for Ines to use (specifically the One Two Buckle My Shoe song). If any of you teacher friends of mine have good website ideas about where I can get this kind of stuff let me know please! I had some luck, but eventually it was time to teach the 1st graders. Inés already had an activity planned so I didn't need to prepare anything. She had drawn up a shoe that she photocopied for each of the students, and then I helped glue them to some stronger paper. The kids were each given a shoe to color, then we poked holes where the laces would be and gave them each a string of twine so we could teach them how to tie shoes. We sang the "One Two Buckle My Shoe" song and let them color. Pretty low key day for me in this class.
I headed back to my apartment when school was over and have been tucked under the covers surfing the internet basically all afternoon. I should run down to the ATM to at least get some money for my bus ticket tomorrow but I won't be surprised if that's all I do. I should probably go to bed early anyways since the bus leaves at 6:30aaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmm.
The weather is really messing with my go-get-em, meeting people attitude. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when there is snow on the ground.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
To Jaén and back
Today was an early morning…aka…a typical U.S. morning. Haha. I got up about 6:30am so I could make sure my paperwork was in order, do the dishes and get ready to go to Jaén with Inés. I met Inés on El Paseo at 8am. I was surprised at how many people were awake, and the café on the corner was open. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised by this, but it was still dark so it seemed earlier than it was. In 2008 when I studied in Murcia it was spring and summer, so it was light most of the time. I haven’t really been in Spain when it stays dark this much.
It took 2 ½ hours to get to Jaén from Siles. Inés and I passed the time talking about medicine, politics, the environment, culture, music, traveling, etc, etc. We had been warned that it would be hard to find parking in Jaén but it was a lot worse than we expected. We drove around in circles trying to find the extranjería (where I needed to do my paperwork) and a parking space. We finally found what we thought was the extranjería so Inés dropped me off and continued her parking search. When I went in they told me that I was actually in the wrong spot. For being a boring, bureaucratic office they were actually quite nice and helpful. They gave me directions to where I really needed to go. I walked in that general direction until I asked the next person for further directions, and then another person to help me finish the trip. I got there and the line wasn’t too bad. I looked around the lobby and saw a group of American-looking people all holding the same green folder that I had been given. There were about half a dozen other Cultural Ambassadors there waiting to do the same paperwork. Only 2 of those appeared to be a couple, so when I got my number I went over to see if they were Ava and Ben. Sure enough, it was them. They were surprised that I was able to pick them out so quickly having not ever met them. Poor Ava and Ben had been there all morning and still hadn’t been seen. None of us were told that we had actual appointment times. Their appointment time wasn’t until 1pm. Luckily mine was 10:30 and since it was already 11:05 I was seen almost immediately. Not quite fair for them, but I was thankful for it! I went in and there was some initial confusion over my paperwork and appointment time. One guy said my appointment wasn’t until the next day, but the other guy had me on the list for today (This problem was because initially my appointment was supposed to be tomorrow but Victor changed it so I could be here the same time as Ava and Ben). Then I had been given the wrong application. He sent me back out to the lobby to fill out the new application (which was almost identical to the one I had already filled out). Luckily again for me I didn’t have to wait once I filled out the new application. They saw me right away and we were able to proceed with the rest of my NIE paperwork without problems.
I have to go back to Jaén again on November 9th to get my fingerprints taken. Then, 40 days after THAT I have to go back AGAIN just to pick up my residency card. Blaaaaaaah. So many unnecessary trips! Inés was really hoping that we could do the fingerprints as well today, and that they would mail me the card, but we had no such luck. Considering it takes so long to go there and back, it’s a general consensus amongst Inés, me, Victor and the other auxiliares that this process is a pain in the rear end. 5 hours of traveling for a 10 minute appointment? No thank you. The one nice thing is that they gave me the actual NIE number today. Supposedly that means I can open my bank account and such now and not have to wait until the actual card gets here. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I really hope that’s true. If not I could be waiting until the middle of December to get paid.
Ava and Ben were seen about the same time as me, so when we were all done we went to the café across the street for coffee and a snack. Thank goodness because we were all hungry and thirsty. One of our topics of conversation was my Washington accent. Yes, apparently I have an accent. When I talked to Ava on the phone yesterday she thought I had a bit of a southern accent. Then today when I mentioned that my mom’s side of the family was from Minnesota they said that’s what it was. I’m not sure if it’s really a Washington accent then or just Minnesota family influence. When I studied in Murcia my friends Brittany and Grace said I had a Washington accent too. The only times I’ve ever been told that I have an accent are by Americans while I’ve been in Spain.
After our snack we headed over to Movistar so I could get my Spanish phone working again. I had been told I had to change the sim card in my phone because I hadn’t added any money to my phone in more than 6 months. I went in and asked to do just that, but as part of the process they just gave me a new phone…no extra charge. Ok, whatever, do what you want. So, at the end of it all I had ANOTHER new functioning Spanish phone. This is the 3rd Spanish phone I’ve owned in 2 ½ years.
After that we headed back to the car for another 2 ½ hour car ride. I felt so bad for Inés. She doesn’t drive that far very often. This ride was especially hard because she’s pregnant and was so uncomfortable sitting that long. She said someone else (maybe from Ava and Ben’s school) will have to drive us next time because she just can’t.
We stopped for gas during our ride back. It was 1.11 euro/liter. There are 3.79 liters in a gallon. That makes gas 4.20 euro/gallon…about $5.84 a gallon. Yikes. I think I’ll stick with my $2.85 in the U.S.
I slept a little bit on the way back to Siles to make time go by faster. I woke up to Ava and Inés taking pictures of Ben and I sleeping in the backseat. We dropped Ben and Ava off in La Puerta and then Inés took me to my apartment in Siles. When I got there I had some lunch and debated taking a nap. I really wanted a nap, but at the same time wanted to be able to sleep tonight.
Taking a nap won.
The rest of the evening I chilled in the apartment and just made a pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow is my long day of work. I have 4 classes; 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th grade. All the normal Spanish teachers from surrounding towns also meet here in Siles on Wednesdays and Thursdays to learn English from 4:30-7:45. I will be working with this group at least 1 hour and 45 minutes each week. We haven’t figured out how we’re going to divide that time yet. Part of me would like to do it all on Wednesday. I don’t have any classes with the school on Thursday afternoon or Friday. This would give me a little extra free time on my long weekend to travel if I want. However, Javi and Inés were thinking maybe I should just do 50 minutes each day. Plus, it would make Wednesday really long if I did it all that day. We’ll see how that goes. I’m not too worried about it. I don’t think there are many buses that leave Siles on Thursday afternoon anyways.
I’ve seen comments about snow on Facebook lately, at least in the pass. I am SO glad that the snow hasn’t quite arrived here yet. I am looking forward to seeing how pretty it is here in the snow but I’m also in NO rush.
Buenas noches todos! I’m going back to bed.
It took 2 ½ hours to get to Jaén from Siles. Inés and I passed the time talking about medicine, politics, the environment, culture, music, traveling, etc, etc. We had been warned that it would be hard to find parking in Jaén but it was a lot worse than we expected. We drove around in circles trying to find the extranjería (where I needed to do my paperwork) and a parking space. We finally found what we thought was the extranjería so Inés dropped me off and continued her parking search. When I went in they told me that I was actually in the wrong spot. For being a boring, bureaucratic office they were actually quite nice and helpful. They gave me directions to where I really needed to go. I walked in that general direction until I asked the next person for further directions, and then another person to help me finish the trip. I got there and the line wasn’t too bad. I looked around the lobby and saw a group of American-looking people all holding the same green folder that I had been given. There were about half a dozen other Cultural Ambassadors there waiting to do the same paperwork. Only 2 of those appeared to be a couple, so when I got my number I went over to see if they were Ava and Ben. Sure enough, it was them. They were surprised that I was able to pick them out so quickly having not ever met them. Poor Ava and Ben had been there all morning and still hadn’t been seen. None of us were told that we had actual appointment times. Their appointment time wasn’t until 1pm. Luckily mine was 10:30 and since it was already 11:05 I was seen almost immediately. Not quite fair for them, but I was thankful for it! I went in and there was some initial confusion over my paperwork and appointment time. One guy said my appointment wasn’t until the next day, but the other guy had me on the list for today (This problem was because initially my appointment was supposed to be tomorrow but Victor changed it so I could be here the same time as Ava and Ben). Then I had been given the wrong application. He sent me back out to the lobby to fill out the new application (which was almost identical to the one I had already filled out). Luckily again for me I didn’t have to wait once I filled out the new application. They saw me right away and we were able to proceed with the rest of my NIE paperwork without problems.
I have to go back to Jaén again on November 9th to get my fingerprints taken. Then, 40 days after THAT I have to go back AGAIN just to pick up my residency card. Blaaaaaaah. So many unnecessary trips! Inés was really hoping that we could do the fingerprints as well today, and that they would mail me the card, but we had no such luck. Considering it takes so long to go there and back, it’s a general consensus amongst Inés, me, Victor and the other auxiliares that this process is a pain in the rear end. 5 hours of traveling for a 10 minute appointment? No thank you. The one nice thing is that they gave me the actual NIE number today. Supposedly that means I can open my bank account and such now and not have to wait until the actual card gets here. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I really hope that’s true. If not I could be waiting until the middle of December to get paid.
Ava and Ben were seen about the same time as me, so when we were all done we went to the café across the street for coffee and a snack. Thank goodness because we were all hungry and thirsty. One of our topics of conversation was my Washington accent. Yes, apparently I have an accent. When I talked to Ava on the phone yesterday she thought I had a bit of a southern accent. Then today when I mentioned that my mom’s side of the family was from Minnesota they said that’s what it was. I’m not sure if it’s really a Washington accent then or just Minnesota family influence. When I studied in Murcia my friends Brittany and Grace said I had a Washington accent too. The only times I’ve ever been told that I have an accent are by Americans while I’ve been in Spain.
After our snack we headed over to Movistar so I could get my Spanish phone working again. I had been told I had to change the sim card in my phone because I hadn’t added any money to my phone in more than 6 months. I went in and asked to do just that, but as part of the process they just gave me a new phone…no extra charge. Ok, whatever, do what you want. So, at the end of it all I had ANOTHER new functioning Spanish phone. This is the 3rd Spanish phone I’ve owned in 2 ½ years.
After that we headed back to the car for another 2 ½ hour car ride. I felt so bad for Inés. She doesn’t drive that far very often. This ride was especially hard because she’s pregnant and was so uncomfortable sitting that long. She said someone else (maybe from Ava and Ben’s school) will have to drive us next time because she just can’t.
We stopped for gas during our ride back. It was 1.11 euro/liter. There are 3.79 liters in a gallon. That makes gas 4.20 euro/gallon…about $5.84 a gallon. Yikes. I think I’ll stick with my $2.85 in the U.S.
I slept a little bit on the way back to Siles to make time go by faster. I woke up to Ava and Inés taking pictures of Ben and I sleeping in the backseat. We dropped Ben and Ava off in La Puerta and then Inés took me to my apartment in Siles. When I got there I had some lunch and debated taking a nap. I really wanted a nap, but at the same time wanted to be able to sleep tonight.
Taking a nap won.
The rest of the evening I chilled in the apartment and just made a pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow is my long day of work. I have 4 classes; 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th grade. All the normal Spanish teachers from surrounding towns also meet here in Siles on Wednesdays and Thursdays to learn English from 4:30-7:45. I will be working with this group at least 1 hour and 45 minutes each week. We haven’t figured out how we’re going to divide that time yet. Part of me would like to do it all on Wednesday. I don’t have any classes with the school on Thursday afternoon or Friday. This would give me a little extra free time on my long weekend to travel if I want. However, Javi and Inés were thinking maybe I should just do 50 minutes each day. Plus, it would make Wednesday really long if I did it all that day. We’ll see how that goes. I’m not too worried about it. I don’t think there are many buses that leave Siles on Thursday afternoon anyways.
I’ve seen comments about snow on Facebook lately, at least in the pass. I am SO glad that the snow hasn’t quite arrived here yet. I am looking forward to seeing how pretty it is here in the snow but I’m also in NO rush.
Buenas noches todos! I’m going back to bed.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Conversation, culture and café con leche
The rest of today was pretty relaxed. Number one priority was going to the grocery store. I forgot that the grocery store isn’t open on Sundays, so food options yesterday were really limited. While shopping Rocio (Pepe’s daughter) came into the grocery store and asked if I wanted to get coffee with her and Pepe. I paid for my things and then headed over to La Mezquita. We sat and chatted a bit about this, that and the other thing. Juan also showed up. Rocio asked me to go trick or treating with her this Sunday. I was really surprised she was going. Halloween is gaining popularity here in Spain, but I was surprised in a small town that kids dress up and go out. I asked her if everyone participated or if sometimes they got the door slammed in their face by people that don’t celebrate that crazy American holiday. She said, no, everyone gives out candy. My costume options are quite limited so I’ll probably be throwing a white sheet over myself, cutting out eye holes and calling myself a ghost. I believe we are also going to be doing some sort of small celebration at the school. Monday we don’t have school because of Halloween on Sunday. The vacation day is called ‘puente.’ Don’t we all wish we didn’t have to go to school the day after staying out late for Halloween!
Pepe and Rocio are going to look at a car in Murcia on Sunday. They asked if I wanted to come along so I could see my friends there, but because of puente it doesn’t seem like many people are going to be available. I think I’ll probably just hold off and try to find another time to go. Getting to Murcia is a bigger challenge than I anticipated. Bus options out of Siles are very limited and there are only a couple buses that leave Siles each day. So far the best option seems to be going from Siles to Hellín, then Hellín to Murcia. It’s the cheapest and fastest way I’ve found so far. The only problem is that the return trip involves a 5 hours layover in Hellín waiting for the Siles bus. Blah. Hopefully I’ll find people making trips to Murcia often enough that it won’t be a problem. Pepe is going to Murcia at least once. Inés is going to Ikea in Murcia at least once and hopefully I can find others.
After coffee, Pepe, Rocio and the guy from the general store helped show me how to make international calls on the payphone. After that lesson Pepe and Rocio insisted they drive me back up to my apartment. I really, REALLY only live a few minutes away (walking!) but am frequently being offered rides so I don’t have to walk up the hill. I’m thankful for the generosity, but I also like the walk…both for the fresh air and exercise. Oh well…I’m sure when it’s starts snowing I’ll really be thankful.
The rest of the day I lounged around the apartment and went to bed early. I have to be up early the next day to go to Jaén and deal with all the residency paperwork.
Pepe and Rocio are going to look at a car in Murcia on Sunday. They asked if I wanted to come along so I could see my friends there, but because of puente it doesn’t seem like many people are going to be available. I think I’ll probably just hold off and try to find another time to go. Getting to Murcia is a bigger challenge than I anticipated. Bus options out of Siles are very limited and there are only a couple buses that leave Siles each day. So far the best option seems to be going from Siles to Hellín, then Hellín to Murcia. It’s the cheapest and fastest way I’ve found so far. The only problem is that the return trip involves a 5 hours layover in Hellín waiting for the Siles bus. Blah. Hopefully I’ll find people making trips to Murcia often enough that it won’t be a problem. Pepe is going to Murcia at least once. Inés is going to Ikea in Murcia at least once and hopefully I can find others.
After coffee, Pepe, Rocio and the guy from the general store helped show me how to make international calls on the payphone. After that lesson Pepe and Rocio insisted they drive me back up to my apartment. I really, REALLY only live a few minutes away (walking!) but am frequently being offered rides so I don’t have to walk up the hill. I’m thankful for the generosity, but I also like the walk…both for the fresh air and exercise. Oh well…I’m sure when it’s starts snowing I’ll really be thankful.
The rest of the day I lounged around the apartment and went to bed early. I have to be up early the next day to go to Jaén and deal with all the residency paperwork.
My first day as a teacher!
I went to bed super early last night…6:30pm…then slept for 13 hours. Needless to say I feel more rested today. However, I really wish my bed was more comfortable. I wonder if I could find some sort of mattress topper or something. I’ll have to do some creative thinking so my back doesn’t break in half by the time June comes around. I got up, got ready and headed to my first day of teaching. My first lesson was with the 5th graders. Sebas is the English teacher, and he explained to me what we were going to be doing. He does the main lessons, and then gives me smaller groups of kids to really work on listening and speaking. He was joking around about the fact that from now on he is going to be the last pick English teacher because all of them want to go with me instead. Sebas took most of the class to the English classroom, and left me with 4 kids in their normal classroom…Vincente, Miguel Jose, Estrella and Mari Angel. We listened to a CD clip of an English person talking about school uniforms, and then I read the same clip. Next I had each of the kids read a section. After that there was a workbook we went through. Finally we listened one more time. It was hard to get the kids to sit and focus, but they had warned me that the group of 5th graders this year has been a challenge. They don’t tend to behave very well. For me it was mostly hard to get them to focus on what we needed to do, because they just wanted to learn about me and ask me questions. We didn’t end up going through the powerpoint I created because we needed to do other things, but based on how my time with the kids went I think it would have been worth our while to do a Q and A session with me instead. An hour actually went by very quickly. In the future I think we’re hoping to get 2 groups in with me every class, but we’ll see. It’s a learning experience for us all.
After that first class I had a break. I went home to tweak my powerpoint since I now had a better idea of where the kids’ vocabulary was at.
At noon I went back to school to work with Inés and the 1st graders. 25 of them. Crazy. I realize that’s a pretty normal number of students in a classroom in the U.S., but after working with 4 kids, 25 was insane. Luckily I didn’t have them all to myself. Inés and I co-taught. They are up and down and screaming and just generally insane. Haha. Inés says it’s like that a lot. I have a feeling that student/teacher interactions and ideas about discipline in the classroom are very different between Spain and the U.S. I know there were times my classes growing up would get rowdy, but never on a consistent basis like it was today. With Inés we sang songs, danced and colored pictures of bats for Halloween. I went around and chatted a little bit with each of the kids about colors. They knew all the basic colors from last year, but today we taught them the word for “black” since most of them were coloring their bats black or brown.
At 2pm Victor (the person in charge of the auxiliares in this region) stopped by the school to talk to me about the NIE appointment in Jaén. Instead of Wednesday I’m going to go tomorrow because the other 2 assistants (Ben and Eva) from Puerta are going tomorrow. This way we can all get it done together and I can meet them.
This turned into a bit of a confusing situation. Ben and Eva are going to Jaén tonight and staying with another auxiliar that they met during orientation (Orientation was October 6th and I missed it). Victor and Inés were hoping that I could go with them, stay in the same house, then ride the bus back to Siles tomorrow but they didn’t know if there would be enough room in the house for me. I’m not sure if Ben and Ava were as confused about the situation as me, or if they had already left, but when they called they said they just were going to meet me at the extranjería in Jaén the next day and ride back with me. So now Inés is going to personally drive me to Jaén in the morning, then bring all of us back, then do her teaching in the afternoon. It is a 2 hour drive to Jaén. Whoa. Long day for her. Have I mentioned how amazing she is? Anyways, I’m hoping that all will go well with the paperwork in the morning and I’ll have my NIE so I can open a bank account and get paid.
Javi (the school director) and Inés said that the Auxiliares program has already given the school money for me for the year and that Javi will pay me each month. They still want me to be paid for all of this month even though I arrived late so I will help make class materials and such to make up for the hours that I didn’t work. I’m so glad that they are still going to give me the whole amount. I am very thankful for that.
Later I need to go grocery shopping. I forgot that the grocery stores are not open on Sundays so yesterday my food options were lacking. Good thing I ended up sleeping the day away anyways.
After that first class I had a break. I went home to tweak my powerpoint since I now had a better idea of where the kids’ vocabulary was at.
At noon I went back to school to work with Inés and the 1st graders. 25 of them. Crazy. I realize that’s a pretty normal number of students in a classroom in the U.S., but after working with 4 kids, 25 was insane. Luckily I didn’t have them all to myself. Inés and I co-taught. They are up and down and screaming and just generally insane. Haha. Inés says it’s like that a lot. I have a feeling that student/teacher interactions and ideas about discipline in the classroom are very different between Spain and the U.S. I know there were times my classes growing up would get rowdy, but never on a consistent basis like it was today. With Inés we sang songs, danced and colored pictures of bats for Halloween. I went around and chatted a little bit with each of the kids about colors. They knew all the basic colors from last year, but today we taught them the word for “black” since most of them were coloring their bats black or brown.
At 2pm Victor (the person in charge of the auxiliares in this region) stopped by the school to talk to me about the NIE appointment in Jaén. Instead of Wednesday I’m going to go tomorrow because the other 2 assistants (Ben and Eva) from Puerta are going tomorrow. This way we can all get it done together and I can meet them.
This turned into a bit of a confusing situation. Ben and Eva are going to Jaén tonight and staying with another auxiliar that they met during orientation (Orientation was October 6th and I missed it). Victor and Inés were hoping that I could go with them, stay in the same house, then ride the bus back to Siles tomorrow but they didn’t know if there would be enough room in the house for me. I’m not sure if Ben and Ava were as confused about the situation as me, or if they had already left, but when they called they said they just were going to meet me at the extranjería in Jaén the next day and ride back with me. So now Inés is going to personally drive me to Jaén in the morning, then bring all of us back, then do her teaching in the afternoon. It is a 2 hour drive to Jaén. Whoa. Long day for her. Have I mentioned how amazing she is? Anyways, I’m hoping that all will go well with the paperwork in the morning and I’ll have my NIE so I can open a bank account and get paid.
Javi (the school director) and Inés said that the Auxiliares program has already given the school money for me for the year and that Javi will pay me each month. They still want me to be paid for all of this month even though I arrived late so I will help make class materials and such to make up for the hours that I didn’t work. I’m so glad that they are still going to give me the whole amount. I am very thankful for that.
Later I need to go grocery shopping. I forgot that the grocery stores are not open on Sundays so yesterday my food options were lacking. Good thing I ended up sleeping the day away anyways.
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