Tuesday, October 27, 2009
inch by inch life's a sinch.
I feel like I constantly have nursery rhymes, silly songs, or “finger plays” stuck in my head. Life of a preschool teacher?
Anyway…this past week has been both great and sad. As many of you know, my grandmother Audrey passed away. Of course we have been “preparing” (if there is such a thing) for this to happen….but it has been difficult to deal with being so removed and far away from my family. My close friend (from AK), Kime, was here and that was really helpful to have someone close to me here. My mom called with the news while we were sitting at the Mediterranean and of course this was a perfect spot to have a moment for Grandma considering how much she loved the water and especially the Mediterranean. I am very sad for my dad and his family. but I suppose we can also be relieved that Grandma is in a more comfortable place. I am going to miss her and her quirkiness so much.
On to a more positive note… as I mentioned, Kime was here and also her family friend Zack. It was really good to have them here and to show someone my life here. Kime was so excited to see that I knew people walking around town, to find me drinking coffee in the teachers lounge, and to see me really living life in Spain. She and Zack made me feel good about being here and assured me that Motril is not quite as ugly as I think it is. We didn’t get to do a whole lot because unfortunately it was our FIRST two days of cloudy/rainy weather but I showed them the beach, the town (not much to see), my school and some good tapas places. Then we were off to Granada for a couple of days, which of course is always great!
This past weekend was my roommate Meg’s birthday so we had a reunion here in Motril with some other teachers; we had a nice birthday dinner and then went out to celebrate. It was really fun. The rest of the weekend we laid low because we have all been sick with colds (are teachers EVER 100% healthy? This worries me….)
Last week and this week have been much better at school. This week I am doing Halloween activities (see pictures above – soo cute!!) which has been really fun. Most of the kids know about Halloween in the US from movies and apparently they also celebrate a bit here in Motril. We have been making haunted houses and masks, which they all love. With the little little ones I taught them a “pumpkin pumpkin on the ground” song… but I was happy to know that they all LOVED my “wheels on the bus go round and round” song and game last week! (I had them all put their chairs as if we were in a bus, I was the driver of course, and “only English” was allowed on the bus. They loved it -- I felt good about doing something right – for once.)
I am off to Barcelona tomorrow for the long weekend!! (Monday is some random holiday…) Since I bought a Eurail pass to get to Madrid from Paris I got my ticket for 10 euro and it usually costs about 100. I’m taking the night train so I will have four full days there! I am staying with a friend from Clark, Cassie, who is teaching there so I am really excited to see her and her life in Barcelona!
Love to everyone. I miss all of you muchisimo!
Anyway…this past week has been both great and sad. As many of you know, my grandmother Audrey passed away. Of course we have been “preparing” (if there is such a thing) for this to happen….but it has been difficult to deal with being so removed and far away from my family. My close friend (from AK), Kime, was here and that was really helpful to have someone close to me here. My mom called with the news while we were sitting at the Mediterranean and of course this was a perfect spot to have a moment for Grandma considering how much she loved the water and especially the Mediterranean. I am very sad for my dad and his family. but I suppose we can also be relieved that Grandma is in a more comfortable place. I am going to miss her and her quirkiness so much.
On to a more positive note… as I mentioned, Kime was here and also her family friend Zack. It was really good to have them here and to show someone my life here. Kime was so excited to see that I knew people walking around town, to find me drinking coffee in the teachers lounge, and to see me really living life in Spain. She and Zack made me feel good about being here and assured me that Motril is not quite as ugly as I think it is. We didn’t get to do a whole lot because unfortunately it was our FIRST two days of cloudy/rainy weather but I showed them the beach, the town (not much to see), my school and some good tapas places. Then we were off to Granada for a couple of days, which of course is always great!
This past weekend was my roommate Meg’s birthday so we had a reunion here in Motril with some other teachers; we had a nice birthday dinner and then went out to celebrate. It was really fun. The rest of the weekend we laid low because we have all been sick with colds (are teachers EVER 100% healthy? This worries me….)
Last week and this week have been much better at school. This week I am doing Halloween activities (see pictures above – soo cute!!) which has been really fun. Most of the kids know about Halloween in the US from movies and apparently they also celebrate a bit here in Motril. We have been making haunted houses and masks, which they all love. With the little little ones I taught them a “pumpkin pumpkin on the ground” song… but I was happy to know that they all LOVED my “wheels on the bus go round and round” song and game last week! (I had them all put their chairs as if we were in a bus, I was the driver of course, and “only English” was allowed on the bus. They loved it -- I felt good about doing something right – for once.)
I am off to Barcelona tomorrow for the long weekend!! (Monday is some random holiday…) Since I bought a Eurail pass to get to Madrid from Paris I got my ticket for 10 euro and it usually costs about 100. I’m taking the night train so I will have four full days there! I am staying with a friend from Clark, Cassie, who is teaching there so I am really excited to see her and her life in Barcelona!
Love to everyone. I miss all of you muchisimo!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
la bella ciudad de granada & more
This past weekend I went back to one of my favorite cities, Granada. It was soo good to be back but it was hard because I felt like I was constantly comparing it to Motril. Granada is beautiful with so much to do and many more young people… and of course the mountains are right there and beautiful, too. But I reminded myself of the positive things about being in Motril and fortunately I am close enough to visit often.
I stayed with a few CIEE boys the first night and mostly spent time with CIEE people who are teaching in Granada. It seems that everyone has had/is having a hard time meeting Spaniards, too. My friend Jessi that was staying with us found an apartment in Granada so we helped her move in – her apartment has a view of the Alhambra, its pretty unreal. I enjoyed talking to her roommate who is getting her Ph.D in psychology at the university there so that was interesting. I’ll hopefully be visiting Jessi lots so I can enjoy Granada more and also talk more with her roommate about the field of psychology in Spain.
A few things worth mentioning of the past 10ish days:
-I was sitting at a café and I saw one of my favorite students Eva walk by with her family so I yelled her name…she got SO excited and pointed me out to everyone in her family with a huge smile on her face. It made my week…and it was a moment where I was happy to be living in Motril.
-I went on a field trip to the southern side of the Sierra Nevadas by the Alpujarra villages. It was really cool – the landscape and mountains are so different from Alaska but it was really beautiful and fun to be in the mountains.
-Every Wednesday I meet with the English teachers at my school to talk and help them with English. The topic of Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize came up…it was interesting to see what they felt. They said they are confused as to why he got it so early on in his presidency and that they should have waited until he has actually done more. My roommate Andrew said a few of his students (which are adults) said they think the Spanish Army or Zapatero (president of Spain) should have gotten it instead. Interesting….
-I had my first breakdown at school. On Tuesdays I have the most time with the preschool classes – 6 classes total within 3 hours. I came prepared to teach them the itsy bitsy spider and I also brought a story to read. The first 3 classes went okay -- even though they looked at me very uninterested, at least I had something to do with them. Then at my 4th class I couldn’t find the kids… it turned out the teacher had joined my last 3 classes (about fifty 4 year olds) into one room for me to do a presentation with photos that I had forgotten to bring. When the teacher had asked me last week to bring photos I thought she meant printed photos to hand out or photos I could use from the books I have… but she meant on the computer. So I had nothing to do for the next 45 minutes with these fifty 4 year olds. Finally we decided to use photos from my facebook, which by the time I got to all of them the kids really didn’t care at all about what I was showing them. At the end, one teacher (who is very nice) started listing activities I could try doing for next time. I told her that I was prepared with a song, etc and that I have no problem searching for activities on my own but that I need to do know what I am expected to do that day (for ex, give a 45 minute presentation). So I left feeling pretty stupid and upset in general. I am really struggling with the preschool kids and feeling like my time (15 minutes per class, each week) with them is worthwhile... but the other classes are better and continue to get better so that keeps me going. I just wish I could use that time with the older kids who might benefit more.
Anyway, that’s all for now. Kime is coming tomorrow which I am really excited about to see a familiar face and show someone my life here…
FYI: we are receiving mail and packages just fine at our apartment so mail is always welcome! :)
Love to all and especially Grandma who I am thinking of every day and sending positive thoughts to everyone with her during these hard days…
I love you so much Grandma.
I stayed with a few CIEE boys the first night and mostly spent time with CIEE people who are teaching in Granada. It seems that everyone has had/is having a hard time meeting Spaniards, too. My friend Jessi that was staying with us found an apartment in Granada so we helped her move in – her apartment has a view of the Alhambra, its pretty unreal. I enjoyed talking to her roommate who is getting her Ph.D in psychology at the university there so that was interesting. I’ll hopefully be visiting Jessi lots so I can enjoy Granada more and also talk more with her roommate about the field of psychology in Spain.
A few things worth mentioning of the past 10ish days:
-I was sitting at a café and I saw one of my favorite students Eva walk by with her family so I yelled her name…she got SO excited and pointed me out to everyone in her family with a huge smile on her face. It made my week…and it was a moment where I was happy to be living in Motril.
-I went on a field trip to the southern side of the Sierra Nevadas by the Alpujarra villages. It was really cool – the landscape and mountains are so different from Alaska but it was really beautiful and fun to be in the mountains.
-Every Wednesday I meet with the English teachers at my school to talk and help them with English. The topic of Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize came up…it was interesting to see what they felt. They said they are confused as to why he got it so early on in his presidency and that they should have waited until he has actually done more. My roommate Andrew said a few of his students (which are adults) said they think the Spanish Army or Zapatero (president of Spain) should have gotten it instead. Interesting….
-I had my first breakdown at school. On Tuesdays I have the most time with the preschool classes – 6 classes total within 3 hours. I came prepared to teach them the itsy bitsy spider and I also brought a story to read. The first 3 classes went okay -- even though they looked at me very uninterested, at least I had something to do with them. Then at my 4th class I couldn’t find the kids… it turned out the teacher had joined my last 3 classes (about fifty 4 year olds) into one room for me to do a presentation with photos that I had forgotten to bring. When the teacher had asked me last week to bring photos I thought she meant printed photos to hand out or photos I could use from the books I have… but she meant on the computer. So I had nothing to do for the next 45 minutes with these fifty 4 year olds. Finally we decided to use photos from my facebook, which by the time I got to all of them the kids really didn’t care at all about what I was showing them. At the end, one teacher (who is very nice) started listing activities I could try doing for next time. I told her that I was prepared with a song, etc and that I have no problem searching for activities on my own but that I need to do know what I am expected to do that day (for ex, give a 45 minute presentation). So I left feeling pretty stupid and upset in general. I am really struggling with the preschool kids and feeling like my time (15 minutes per class, each week) with them is worthwhile... but the other classes are better and continue to get better so that keeps me going. I just wish I could use that time with the older kids who might benefit more.
Anyway, that’s all for now. Kime is coming tomorrow which I am really excited about to see a familiar face and show someone my life here…
FYI: we are receiving mail and packages just fine at our apartment so mail is always welcome! :)
Love to all and especially Grandma who I am thinking of every day and sending positive thoughts to everyone with her during these hard days…
I love you so much Grandma.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
first week of school
It’s amazing that I have only been here (in Motril) for a little over 2 weeks – it feels like it has been forever. Last week I finally decided to go to my school and meet the professors and it made me really excited about starting work. I met with my coordinator, Antonio and he is really, really nice. He genuinely wants to make sure we are taken care of and are happy here in Motril. He showed me around the school and introduced me to many teachers that I would be working with. All of the teachers were really excited to have me and knew who I was. When we walked into Antonio’s English classroom the kids had outlined Alaska and North Carolina (where the other girl is from) on the map – it was very cute. The school also has a beautiful view of the mountains, which is nice. The next day was supposed to be our “first day” but Alisha and I showed up and just watched Antonio and some others figure out our schedules (of course they didn’t have those ready yet…this is Spain!) They asked if one of us would prefer to be with the little or older kids and I said I didn’t care and Alisha preferred the older kids so I was told I would be with 3-8 year olds!
Monday was my first “real” day. I showed up at 9 for my first class with 3rd graders. I was really nervous but the whole day went really well. The kids were excited to have me and were interested in my life. The hardest part: NOT speaking Spanish. The kids (even the 3rd graders and ESPECIALLY the 1st graders) hardly know ANY English. So what exactly is my role here? It’s really hard. Some of the teachers were really good at helping me and making it interesting to have me but some of the others didn’t know what to do with me there. Highlights of the day: getting a note from a 1st grader with my name on it and hearts surrounding it and then a little girl saying “teacher, teacher…you have beautiful eyes.” Yesterday I had the pre-school kids in the morning and I started to appreciate the 1st graders. I also gained some respect for Aunt Janet and anyone who has ever taught first graders. It was hard. It also made it hard because a few of the teachers just looked at me and waited for me to know what to do. What do you do with a group of 4 year olds who don’t speak English? On your first day and no experience doing this even with kids who speak English? Next time I am coming prepared with songs and books because even if they don’t understand at least it’s something, right? Ugh! But then I went to a first grade class and was excited to at least be able to converse (even if it’s in Spanish – oops). Of course every girl wants to know about Hannah Montana (a Disney show) and The Jonas Brothers. And then a boy told me “bye bye, te quiero mucho” (I love you so much). That made my day better… Today I had the three year olds. They came in to the class crying, running, screaming. What the heck am I supposed to do with three year olds and english? I DONT KNOW. its really hard because the teachers also have no idea and stare at me with a blank look and say, ¨well, are you going to teach them a song or something?¨ So I have to prepare for next class. which is ironic because I don´t have to prepare anything for the older kids because i am an assistant and not expected to do that. But i will do my best. And at least they are very, very cute.
Also – I am only working Monday – Wednesday. Welcome to la vida Española. I am hoping to get private classes very soon because I am going to get sick of all of my free time. One of my (young) teachers also asked me to meet with her for coffee every week to speak English and then also help me with Spanish so that’s exciting. I was trying to go to Barcelona this weekend because we have a long weekend (really long for me, Thursday – Monday) but I didn’t figure it out soon enough so I am going to have to go another weekend. We plan to spend some time in Granada, which will be really exciting to be back.
Just a short summary of my weekend: Friday we went out with our friend’s Russian (but Spanish) roommate who showed us a lot of fun bars in the area. It was good to go out with her and speak Spanish with people. Saturday: we went to the beach and had an early night out because of being so tired from Friday. Sunday: we went to a “festival” in Salobrena but I think we missed the main event because we only saw the tents set up with LOTS of nuts and dried fruit – Papa, you would have been in heaven! It was fun and beautiful.
I’m off to bed for another long day of work (ha, ha). I miss all of you and love you a lot. I hope you are all well and please keep me updated on your life.
Besos!
Monday was my first “real” day. I showed up at 9 for my first class with 3rd graders. I was really nervous but the whole day went really well. The kids were excited to have me and were interested in my life. The hardest part: NOT speaking Spanish. The kids (even the 3rd graders and ESPECIALLY the 1st graders) hardly know ANY English. So what exactly is my role here? It’s really hard. Some of the teachers were really good at helping me and making it interesting to have me but some of the others didn’t know what to do with me there. Highlights of the day: getting a note from a 1st grader with my name on it and hearts surrounding it and then a little girl saying “teacher, teacher…you have beautiful eyes.” Yesterday I had the pre-school kids in the morning and I started to appreciate the 1st graders. I also gained some respect for Aunt Janet and anyone who has ever taught first graders. It was hard. It also made it hard because a few of the teachers just looked at me and waited for me to know what to do. What do you do with a group of 4 year olds who don’t speak English? On your first day and no experience doing this even with kids who speak English? Next time I am coming prepared with songs and books because even if they don’t understand at least it’s something, right? Ugh! But then I went to a first grade class and was excited to at least be able to converse (even if it’s in Spanish – oops). Of course every girl wants to know about Hannah Montana (a Disney show) and The Jonas Brothers. And then a boy told me “bye bye, te quiero mucho” (I love you so much). That made my day better… Today I had the three year olds. They came in to the class crying, running, screaming. What the heck am I supposed to do with three year olds and english? I DONT KNOW. its really hard because the teachers also have no idea and stare at me with a blank look and say, ¨well, are you going to teach them a song or something?¨ So I have to prepare for next class. which is ironic because I don´t have to prepare anything for the older kids because i am an assistant and not expected to do that. But i will do my best. And at least they are very, very cute.
Also – I am only working Monday – Wednesday. Welcome to la vida Española. I am hoping to get private classes very soon because I am going to get sick of all of my free time. One of my (young) teachers also asked me to meet with her for coffee every week to speak English and then also help me with Spanish so that’s exciting. I was trying to go to Barcelona this weekend because we have a long weekend (really long for me, Thursday – Monday) but I didn’t figure it out soon enough so I am going to have to go another weekend. We plan to spend some time in Granada, which will be really exciting to be back.
Just a short summary of my weekend: Friday we went out with our friend’s Russian (but Spanish) roommate who showed us a lot of fun bars in the area. It was good to go out with her and speak Spanish with people. Saturday: we went to the beach and had an early night out because of being so tired from Friday. Sunday: we went to a “festival” in Salobrena but I think we missed the main event because we only saw the tents set up with LOTS of nuts and dried fruit – Papa, you would have been in heaven! It was fun and beautiful.
I’m off to bed for another long day of work (ha, ha). I miss all of you and love you a lot. I hope you are all well and please keep me updated on your life.
Besos!
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