It's almost my weekend!

I did not want to get up this morning. I hurried out the door, stopped at a small mercado for some water, had a pleasant ‘hello’ interaction with a sweet, tiny little old lady and barely made it to class on time. I taught a small group of 3rd graders and then had my group of 6th graders. The 3rd graders were actually better than my 6th graders. The older kids just mutilated the pronunciation no matter how many times I made them listen to or repeat a word. Apparently all the English classes are having a test for the next class period, so it will be interesting to see what my role in that is. Pass out paper…sit and watch kids take a test…get paid for doing nothing. Well, ok!

After lunch I had the 4th grade science class, which started ok, but then deteriorated. It’s still getting better because we have things actually planned out but this particular group of kids is so hard to wrangle. They had already been in a lot of trouble today with their normal teacher, and then even with me they were up out of their seats, moving around, beating each other up, drawing on the windows, etc, etc. Towards the end of class a group of girls presented me with a picture they made me. It was very cute, but at the same time it would be a lot cuter if they would make these pictures for me at home or recess and actually listen to my lessons during class!

(Me, with my long blond hair and scarf...apparently I ski? I liked their creative use of crayon shavings for the tree.)

I finished up with Inés and the 2nd graders. They had all been given an animal to draw and spent most of the class doing that. I helped Inés cut out head bands and see helped the kids staple their animals to their headbands. The 2nd graders are putting on a presentation for the 3-5 year olds next week that has to do with all of their characters.

I chatted with Inés at the end of the day about how things were going, when I would be paid (soon!) and how I can make up the hours I wasn’t here at the beginning of October. We also firmed up my schedule and signed off on it so she can send the form to the regional office and I can get paid (once they verify I’m working the correct number of hours). Tomorrow is also a fancy lunch at the ‘instituto’ and I’m going with the other teachers from my school. There is a culinary program at el instituto and every Thursday they make a fancy lunch for anyone that signs up. I’ve heard rave reviews about it so I’m excited to be doing something new with the other teachers. I’m also excited because that will mark the start of my weekend. Yay!

I went home and had some lunch before I had to go back to the school in time for the adult class at 4:30pm. We talked about hobbies today. I really like working with the adults. The kids are cute, but as far as conversation goes, adults are definitely more my style. During this class it started storming…rain, hail, thunder, lightning. I wish I had been at my apartment so I could get some pictures of the lightning from my window. When class was done I headed back to my apartment. It was only about 6:30 but it was SO dark! I don’t know when the street lights are supposed to kick on, but they weren’t when I was trying to walk home and it was a little treacherous.

I turned my heat on for the first time tonight. I’m not all that cold but it still feels nice.

The fly is still living in my apartment. He managed to get in when I had my window open last week. He won’t die and I can’t seem to catch him so he continually buzzes around my head and drives me crazy. I will get him eventually.

I feel a little better today so I don’t think my clothes-soaked bus ride back to Siles set me back any on my recovery. People noticed my cold a lot today, but I didn’t feel any worse. I think my voice just sucks being on the tail end of it.

I need to start brainstorming lesson ideas for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The teachers want to make a big, organized deal out of the Christmas lessons so we’ve already started an ‘ideas’ folder in the teacher’s room. When I talked to Inés today I mentioned doing something for Thanksgiving. I figured if they were teaching Halloween they would probably teach Thanksgiving too…not the case…she seemed fairly interested in the idea when I suggested some things, but it wasn’t something they have specific plans for. So, teacher friends of mine…if you have any good holiday-related lesson plans, please let me know!

I hope I feel a lot better tomorrow so I’ll be ready to have fun this weekend. Brittany and Roberto are staying with me from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. I think I’ll probably take them to castle in Sierra de Segura, go out in Siles at night, and buy churros for Sunday morning breakfast. Inés said she would try to think of some things we could do, but I don’t think she realizes that Saturday is only 2 days away.

Even though today was my long day (and came right after yesterday's exhausting adventure) the little old lady from this morning, the kids' drawing, and having visitors to look forward to this weekend made the day good. Yay for the weekend being super close!

Rain, rain GO AWAY!

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!

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.

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.

Resting up so I can live it up

Yesterday was pretty low key. I dozed off and on until 6pm hoping I would feel good enough to still go out with Fernando and the other teachers. I got up and got showered, and as I got moving I did start to feel a little better. I received a toque from Maria, and a little later someone rang the doorbell. I tried to use the call system to let them in but it didn't work so I went upstairs but there was no one there. A little after that Almudena called and asked where I was. It had been her and Maria that stopped by to see if I wanted to go to Mezquita with them. I still had a little bit of time before I was going to meet up with Fernando and the others. They were at a conference about...you guessed it...mushrooms. I wasn't sure how long the conference was going to be so I headed to Mezquita. Almudena, Maria, Rulo, Antonio and Jose Miguel were there. Luis (who I met the same night I met Steffi) was also there and joined us. We hung out for a bit and then Fernando called me to say they were also heading to Mezquita. We had a couple beers and chatted about a variety of topics, including that I should join their band (Christianita y los Papas Fritas) and play the drums and that I should go pick mushrooms with them in the morning. After awhile half the group left and the other half went to Pub JJ. They played a lot of American music at this pub and we had a lot of fun. We stayed there until about 3-3:30 in the morning and then Luis walked me home.

(Christina, Felipe, Me, Fernando)
(Me, Luis, Christina, Felipe, Me, Fernando)

Unlike yesterday I got up at a semi-decent hour (10:45am) and have been feeling a little better. I'm still congested and my ears are plugged, but I'm not having the temperature regulation issues I was having before. Tonight I think some people are going out, so I may join them, but I don't think we'll be going out for long. Lots of people are dealing with this cold and are opting to stay in this weekend and try to get better. I hope I continue feeling better tomorrow so I don't have to teach on Monday feeling so crummy.

Hope you are all doing well. I keep seeing the Facebook updates about Christmas lights, Christmas shopping, red Starbucks cups and other holiday related items. I can't believe it's already November!!!

Catching up

Yesterday, Thursday, the 4th:
I woke up and cleaned house a little. I headed off to school but stopped at the panaderia. They didn’t have the chocolate croissants I was looking for but I did try another pastry that reminded me of rosettes (Norwegian cookie that my grandma makes). I had my 4th grade English class and they were obnoxious and loud. It was also difficult because I didn’t know what pages in the book they were suppose to be working on (because Sebas wasn’t there). We managed to get through but I was more than relieved when the hour was up. I headed off to the 3rd grade science class which was more relaxing. All we were doing was taking the pictures they kids drew and pasting them on the kingdom classification poster I made last week. They had pictures of plants, animals and ongos (fungus) and had to paste their pictures in the correct group. There was some blank space on the poster so Maria del Mar and I decided that next week we would put some vocabulary on the poster with the kids.

After class I sat in the teacher’s room to decompress a little. I talked to Inés a little bit about what we were doing in her class next week and about my appointment to Jaén next week. I really need to talk to Ben and Ava and see if we can get something figured out for transportation. Inés really doesn’t want to drive again. We could take the bus but it is very risky. There is only one bus that goes to Jaén in the morning, and one bus that comes back in the afternoon. The way that the schedule is laid out we would only have 2 hours to get from the bus stop to the extranjeria, have all three of our appointments and get back to the bus stop in time. All three of us have to work the next morning so if we missed the bus we’d basically be screwed. Inés also mentioned that a notice had gone out to the parents that I was going to start private lessons on the 8th. Oh. Ok?? That’s news to me, but I guess I can start them next week. I’m glad that I will be able to make a little extra money teaching these lessons, but at the same time I don’t want to be totally inundated by requests. I still want to have some free time to enjoy life here without teaching *all* the time.

After classes I headed towards the bank. On the way I found another panaderia so I peaked in. They had the croissants I wanted and they were sooo good. I went to the bank and opened up an account. Initially it didn’t look like I was going to be able to open the account because I don’t have my actual, physical residency card yet. The lady ended up opening a non-residential bank account for me so I could get paid, and I’ll just have to go back to the bank in December when I get my residency card to change the type of account I have. Success! From there I went to the photographer and got some passport photos taken for my appointment in Jaén. After that I headed over to Gerardo Mercado, where Edu, Steffi’s husband works. Steffi had told me that his market was better and cheaper than Dia and I agree. It definitely isn’t as big but I like the atmosphere. I gave Edu my phone number so we could all get together again. As I was leaving I ran into Almudena, Almudena’s 2 year old daughter and Maria. We chatted briefly and then I headed home. The street market was going on, and I had forgotten about it, but since I already had so much in my hands I went home.

I had lunch and chatted with Maria online. She decided to come over for coffee. We chatted a bit, watched Spanish television and made coffee. Maria really liked my apartment and she mentioned that she was jealous of my long hair. After awhile we headed down to the glorieta (park) to meet Almudena where she was working. Almudena works with the senior citizens here. She keeps them company, helps them with errands and makes sure they are taken care of. The woman she was supposed to be working with was playing botchi ball with some friends so we just stayed and kept her company. All three of us, Almudena, Maria and me, are dealing with colds. The weather is shifting here pretty quickly, and it’s taking its toll on us. We left the glorieta and then Almudena drove us around a little to give me a tour of the town. I saw the football field (where the botellónes…parties… take place), the public pool, the guarderia civil and the Plaza de Toros (which is really small compared to most).



Almudena also pointed out where her house is. We got coffee at Mezquita, where we met up with a bunch of other people our age and then Almudena had to go back to work. She dropped Maria and I off back at my apartment, then Maria’s boyfriend picked her up from there. I got into bed and laid there for awhile. My sore throat was very rapidly turning into a full blown cold…chills, body aches…yuck. I wanted to get my blog updated before I went to bed but it just didn’t happen. I went to bed and stayed there for another 12 hours.

Today, Friday, the 5th:
After being in bed for 12 hours two nights in a row you’d think you’d feel better. Not the case. I may have been in bed for 12 hours but it was far from restful. I kept having weird dreams that woke me up, and I was really uncomfortable. Between an uncomfortable bed and the body aches I just couldn’t sleep all that well. I woke up this morning still feeling sick. I’m suppose to go out tonight with Fernando but we’ll see. I bet a hot shower would help, but at the same time the getting *out* of the shower part and having a wet head sounds agonizing. I’m planning on taking it easy the rest of the day in hopes that I feel better by tonight. I’ve already been sitting in bed for a few hours. I probably need to get up. I usually feel a little better if I get up and moving. Anyways, that’s the last few days of my life. Overall pretty good…I just hope this cold gets out of my system quickly and that it isn’t a sign of things to come for the next 8 months dealing with all the little kids.

Oh, and a random side note...I did eventually get the screen open on my window so I can dry clothes outside like a normal espanola.

Another day, another euro

I wanted to wake up early on Wednesday so I could work on lesson plans some more but since I stayed up so late chatting with Maria that didn’t happen. I woke up, got ready, and headed off to school. I got a café con leche out of the machine at school (I frickin’ love that coffee machine). I taught the 3rd graders, then had a break because the 5th and 6th graders aren’t here. During this time I prepped a crossword and word search for the 4th grade science class. After recess I taught the 4th graders and this class went a lot better than last week. We actually had more prepped than we had time for, so we have stuff already done for next week. One girl came up to me and asked if I was going to be doing private English lessons. I had been warned that I would probably have a lot of people ask me for private lessons but I figured most of them would probably be set up by the parents wanting their kids to have more lessons. This girl just wanted some extra time to learn with me. After the 4th grade science class I headed down to the 2nd grade class with Inés. I hardly ever have to do anything for this class because Inés has so much planned. I also think the 2nd graders are my biggest fans. They are always very excited when I show up and they are very cute.

I went home and kicked off my boots…my feet hurt…I guess my feet still aren’t used to doing so much walking. I wanted to take a nap but didn’t have time. I had some leftovers for lunch and tidied up the apartment a bit. It was sunny so I wanted to put my blanket outside to finish drying but the screen was stuck and I couldn’t get it opened. I responded to some e-mails and checked Facebook, then prepared some more conversation cards for my adult English class. For these conversation cards I have a topic, then several questions to get conversation started, then a list of potential vocabulary words on the back for them to incorporate into the conversation. I headed back to the school at 4. Usually the teachers have a training day every Tuesday but this week it’s on Wednesday because Victor is going to be leading a class to teach the teachers how to use the new smart board. I stayed in the class for half an hour, then headed to the adult English class. We discussed English, why they choose to learn English, what’s hard about it, what’s their favorite part, etc, etc. I stayed with the first group for an hour, then headed over to the second adult class and conversed with them for an hour about the same topic. Marta’s class (the first group) is the more advanced group. I am learning to speak slowly but they can generally carry on a conversation. Fernando’s group (the second group) has the beginners. Conversation was a little slower with this group but I actually feel like it went really well. One of the teachers in this group, Juan, invited me, Ben and Ava to stay with him and his family. Juan’s wife works at the hospital and is always nervous about using her English. Juan also wants his kids to be exposed to English. So, hopefully all of us are going to go over there on a Thursday and stay for a night or two and have dinner together. After class Fernando also invited me to go out with him and some other teachers on Friday. I’m really excited about it.

I headed home at this point. I had a sore throat and decided to go to bed early. I went to bed at 8:30 and slept for the next 12 hours.