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.
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Hi Heidi, we are all at Mary and Frank's with my Mom and it is great, your mom, Charlie, Bob and of course Mary and Frank... Mom is doing well for someone on a deathbed!(he, gotta have a little humor) but all in all so good to be around everyone.
ReplyDeleteLoved your blog entry such an interesting experience, and dont worry even after 16 years of teaching i still have that same sinking feeling with my students..unprepared, not told, no support,kids not getting it... wow, 50 preschoolers? ish, i wouldnt trade for 50 9th graders...where were the teachers? You cant expect to entertain 50 you were right to stand up and say "What the heck..." teaching is hard!
Your mom is talking to Marsha, charlie is driking his 5th cup of coffee and brought 3 apples and 3 cinanmin rolls....