Updates

I haven't posted in the last couple days, but that's because nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Dare I say I'm falling into a routine? I think that perhaps I am.

I started my first actual day of class today, with a real schedule. It was definitely interesting. I got to my first class, and the teacher wasn't there. I waited out in the hall for a few moments, and just as the bell rings, a woman (not the teacher) comes up to me. She tells me the teacher is gone. She asks if I'd like to lead the class, and she can stay if I need extra disciplinary help. Turns out they don't really have substitutes at this school. Instead, the duty normally comes in and keeps an eye on the class. So my first day with these kids (who were a little older and spoke fairly well) was completely improvised. It actually went pretty well. I introduced myself, had the kids introduce themselves, and then did some of the activities we learned about at the training (attending paid off already!). I also managed to keep them fairly quiet all class. I'm actually pretty pleased with the first class. (Although when I asked the kids who they knew from the United States that was famous, the first response was "Miley Cyrus" and I had to pull teeth to get a second name. I literally said, "And how about a president?")

The second class was... alright. Not as much involvement on my part. And the third class... I can tell they're going to be a handful. They're a rebellious bunch. They were very chatty (the teacher actually taught them the word 'chatterboxes' so she could call them that) and they're cheeky. There's one girl from Bulgaria who is on my radar. See, I'm not supposed to speak Spanish in these classes. This particular teacher tells the students I don't speak any Spanish. BUT, I do. So when someone has a question in Spanish, I answer in English. This girl immediately says, "Well I know she speaks Spanish because she understood me!" Like this great 'gotcha' moment. I then wrote on the board "I do not speak Spanish in this class." I probably should have pretended not to understand when the kids were speaking in Spanish, but my ego got in the way. I don't want them to think I don't speak Spanish, I worked so hard to learn it! But I do see how it's a crutch for kids, especially this particular group. I'll have to work harder on keeping my pride in check. Overall though, I like this class. They're going to be a challenge. Hopefully a couple will take me up on the offer to give them some private lessons so we can work individually on their English. Also, some extra income would be sweet, especially since I hope to have big plans for Christmas. I'll fill you in a couple of weeks from now, after I have my plans figured out.

I'll be in Burgos Friday getting my NIE figured out (every auxilar in Castilla y Leon has to have their NIE and account number into the powers that be before any of us get paid). I'll write a more detailed post for anyone filling out the NIE in Burgos, since I got really no help in that arena. I'll also be going back on Saturday for a catechesis conference with my parish! And yes, that is my idea of a good time in Spain.

Meanwhile, the government is shutting down? Despite the fact that I have Facebook and what not, and am subscribed to a number of news pages, I found out about this yesterday. Perhaps I'm not paying attention, but I think it has more to do with getting settled down in another country. I know for instance, that the king here was having hip problems, and will be having surgery. I suppose this is a natural part of staying abroad for an extended period of time. 

Madrid

Whew! Well, made it to Madrid. And I'm having a pretty good time! I met several people before dinner and during, and we all went out for drinks afterwards. There I had the most delicious drink I've ever had, called a tinto de verano. It's basically red wine, carbonated lemonade, ice, and lemons. It is wonderful. Super tired tonight. I'll be writing about everything tomorrow.

 

Tinto del Verano. Delicious.

Tomorrow-
Well, I'm pretty sure the people in the hotel room next to mine are throwing some sort of kegger, so now seems like the perfect time to blog about the weekend. It's after midnight, and I've got a Russian television program playing in the background, so I'm good to go.

I stand by what I said about that drink, yesterday. Overall, the jornada this weekend was pretty great. I enjoyed meeting everyone, and for that alone, the jornada was worth it. That and the food. (I've now switched to Law and Order dubbed in German). It's interesting being in a little town, because I don't know a lot of other auxiliares, and this weekend really opened my eyes to the number of different countries involved in the program. There are people from Scotland, England, Ireland, China, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Austria, Australia, France, and the United States. There were so many people speaking so many different languages, it was fascinating. And we all (or most, anyway) were united by our knowledge of Spanish. It's weird when two people can only communicate using their secondary language. I'm sure this won't be the last time this happens in Spain.

Today was filled mostly with various speeches from different departments. Some were amusing, some boring, some depressing (I'm looking at you, US Consulate. I know you had to warn us of all the dangers in Spain, but maybe you could have ended on a happier note?) We even met the Spanish secretary of state for education, so that was pretty cool! She was very interested to know how we felt about the program and what we wanted out of it. (Now it's Smallville dubbed in Spanish. Dubbed shows always sound fake to me.)

What I found quite amusing today were the speeches given by the various country's ambassadors to the program. Had I only read transcripts of each of them, I would have been able to pick the American's speech without a problem. It was very... American... I'm not sure if I can exactly describe it, but it reminded me of eagles and made me feel like chanting "USA, USA" (I did not). The guy from the UK was hilarious. He kept poking fun at France, who was about three people away.  

I met a number of people from the UK, which was awesome. On Thursday we went out to a bar together (see, tinto de verano). They asked if we could tell the difference in their accents. Happily, I shouted, yes! The years of watching BBCA have paid off. They explained that the girl in the middle had a northern accent, different from the other two, who were from Bristol.
"You know Game of Thrones?" one asked. "Well, her accent is like Jon Snow's. She's from the North."
The other woman said. "You don't know nuthin', Jon Snow."
"Yes, I totally know that," I said. "The king in the north!" And I said that with all the accent I could muster (Eileen and Anna will recall that I've made that joke a number of times.) I immediately apologized, but they thought it was funny. (And this was probably better than saying, 'all planets have a north). A little vino helped with that one. It turns out that these ladies found our accents as interesting as we found theirs. Who knew?

All in all, I sat through a lot of talks and ate a ton of food. I got two free nights in a four star hotel without bugs in Madrid. It's not a bad deal. I recommend, if you're an auxiliar, to attend the jornada. If nothing else, you get to know auxiliares in other regions that you wouldn't otherwise meet.

By the way, as a side note, beds in Spain are awful all over the place. This is a four star hotel, and the bed is as hard as a rock. The bed in my apartment is better. Additionally, all pillows in Spain are twice the length of American pillows. I think it makes pillow cases non-transferable. I suppose you could develop an adaptor, but really that seems quite pointless. Anyway, I'm drifting off into rambling, I should probably turn off Smallville and go to sleep. I've got a bus to take back to Aranda tomorrow.

Classrooms in Spain

Today was kind of one of those tear your hair out days. But not so much because I'm in Spain, just because 13 year olds are 13 year olds. I know it was the last period of the day, but I'm up there trying to give a presentation on Idaho/Boise/myself, and the kids are wild. They're talking, turned around in their seats, yelling, and just generally being disrespectful. Now I've met this group of kids once, so I'm still basically a guest speaker. To start out, they literally crowded the door and stampeded their way in. I thought the teacher was going to get knocked over, that's how bad it was. Then the teacher is in the room, and cannot get control of this class. And, from what I can tell, not trying nearly as much as teachers do in American classrooms. It seems like the only recourse for teachers is yelling at the students to be quiet, pay attention. (yesterday I was told that if they act up I should just say, be quiet, shut up.) I favor the stare and stop talking method of teaching, or even the softly spoken, "oh I can't hear so and so over all this noise and such", and am more than willing to wait for them to stop. I have very little experience in teaching, and don't have a teaching degree, so I could be way off base, but it seems like yelling does not really help in the long run. They would pipe down for about two seconds, and then start up all over again. I had an easier time with my sixth graders last year. There's also this weird informality here. The teachers are addressed by their first names, myself included, which is so far really unnerving.

To be fair, not all of the classes are like this. Just like in America, I'm sure there are varying degrees of class behavioral problems. But oh man, during the entire class I just wanted to discipline them for talking, correct their behavior, use a little love and logic, something, anything to get them to pay attention. I hope I'll have the opportunity to over the year. Maybe I'll get to teach solo once or twice, and at least get to experiment with how Spanish kids react to American classroom discipline. Or maybe I just have to build up a rapport with them before they'll actually listen. I know I've got some teaching friends reading this. Would you mind posting some basic discipline techniques on my Facebook page/message to help me out here? I'd really appreciate it.

Other than that, the day was fine. It wasn't as hot as yesterday, and it's supposed to rain this weekend. I'll be in Madrid, so I may get some over there, or I may not. I've got orientation Thurs./Fri./Sat. And I should actually have a decent internet connection at the hotel! I'll be downloading lots of podcasts to listen to, I guarantee it.

What I'm looking forward to most during the orientation is the food. It's free, and I'm sure it'll be a good sampling of Spanish meals. I'm not a cook, and it doesn't look like I'll magically acquire cooking skills on my own over here. Tonight I microwaved a Spanish tortilla (basically egg and potato). It was... salty. I don't recommend it. Luckily, I've had actual Spanish tortillas so I know what I ate was a letdown compared to the real thing. I think I'll be going back to eating sandwiches and salads this coming week. Spain has good lunch meat, and the bread is made daily here.

I'm getting more and more accustomed to Spanish life! A couple of ladies at mass introduced themselves to me, and I run into my students as I walk around town (which is the problem with living in a town of 33,000). In my head I'm planning out all the things I want to take my family to when they get here, but I do feel less and less lonely every day, which I think is how it's supposed to be. I'll write next from Madrid!

Coming to you... from my apartment!

Huzzah! I have wifi in my apartment. I didn't think it was going to happen until next week (because things close at 2 on Sat. and don't open on Sunday). But here I am, writing something at home. It's great because the weather in Aranda is particularly wet today, and I don't really want to venture out, save to get some dinner later. I'll post what I've been writing, and from now on, I'll hopefully be writing as things happen. What a novel concept!

School in Spain

Finally, I'm writing a blog that I intend to post after writing it! Hopefully. The internet, as I mentioned, is still not great. Actually, it's kind of making me want to tear my hair out. I keep hearing this little voice in my head say 'patience, grasshopper'.

I've had several days of teaching now, so I think I'm just going to give an overall impression. My fellow teachers are all very nice. They speak in English or Spanish to me, and are very accommodating when I don't understand what they're saying. So far I've been in four different classes, and all of my students are from 12-14. They enter high school at age 12 here, have 4 years of compulsory education, and then, if they qualify, take another two years of preparatory classes for university. The classes I teach either have a basic level of Spanish or are bilingual, and required to speak English the entire time.

I've noted some interesting differences between American and Spanish schooling techniques. The kids here seem to be more... distracted. Wiggly is perhaps the right word. They aren't as required to be quiet or sit as still here (though maybe I just don't remember middle school kids). They move from class to class, but so do the teachers. There's no set place for anyone, which means that classrooms are plainer, with only a few of the kid's posters on the walls, and teachers may not be in the room when the students come in. The teachers are organized into groups; natural sciences, English, French, Spanish, etc. They all have a main office where things are planned and items are stored. Some days teachers have prep periods that go through two different classes. Some days teachers are done early and head out before school ends. There is no lunch break, because no one eats lunch until 2:30. They have two periods that are essentially recesses, one in the morning and one at noon. At 2:30, everyone goes home for the 'siesta'. Everything is closed, stores, the school, etc. Because of this, the cafeteria is more of a cafe for teachers  to get a cup of coffee at.

There is also a weird homogeneity among the students. They are all pretty much olive skinned with brown hair, which is weird after being in the US classrooms. There's one kid with pale skin and red hair, and I wonder how he came by it.

The interesting thing about a small town is that you pretty much run into your students everywhere. A group of them called me over the other day (another weird thing, they introduced me by my first name). After saying hello, I decided to forget about going where I meant to go to avoid them. I'm sure that will be happening a lot. (And they travel in packs!)

Anyway, so far so good. I'm liking the school, I'm liking the teachers, I'm liking the classes. Thirteen is a good age to teach, because I think they'll still appreciate the English stickers I brought with me. I'll be working four days every week, which is actually pretty cool, because I'll have Friday off one week, and Monday off the next. Perfect opportunity for travel!

Well, my success on the internet was short lived. It's given out again, so I'm going to try and get it back one more time, then proceed to the gym near my house to figure out what days the pilates classes are.

Update-I may have spoken too soon, again. I think the odds of me getting on this connection are not great. I'll probably have to post this blog in my apartment lobby (it's kind of sad that the internet at the restaurant next door to my apartment is better than this. I cannot wait of the convenience of having it in my apartment, whenever that happens)

An axe to grind...

*Cough cough* Man. No matter how long I stay here, the one thing I think I'll never get used to is the amount of smoking in Spain. It's like being in a Vegas casino when you're outdoors. Everybody smokes, which actually makes my science-liking brain wonder, what's the percentage of lung cancer here? Sure, all the old men sound like the Godfather, but I have yet to see someone with a tube sticking out of their throat. Perhaps their cigarettes are better filtered than ours, I don't know. Either way, for someone who is both not used to and severely dislikes second hand smoke, it's a tough adjustment.

Not much to report today. I was inexplicably tired all day (and a little cranky, if truth be told), even though I got a eight hours of sleep last night. Perhaps it was the lack of activity, but all I really did after church today was sit in the plaza and read A Feast for Crows. I'm about 250 pages in, which is a problem because I started it today. I know I'm going to be jonesing for the fifth one, which they have here, but it's in Spanish and in a three volume paperback set. Plus I kind of like the use of 'fantasy' language in the English version (lady mother, sweetling, etc.) and I'm not sure I would be able to understand it in Spanish. I could brave the post and buy it online, but I've just heard awful things about mailing things in Spain, and my mailbox is missing the pane of glass that separates it from the prying hands of the outside world. Plus, I don't think I have a mail key. I guess I'll read it in tiny text on my phone. Anyway... I digress.

The one cool thing that happened today was a wood chopping competition. They set up all these stumps and logs in the plaza, and had these professional wood choppers demonstrate different ways of cutting the wood. They turned it into a competition, too. I was most impressed by this woman with massive arm muscles. She was great, and won two out of three of her competitions. They also had this big guy, who was one of the top wood choppers (I'm sure there's a more elegant name for him, but I don't know it) in Spain. He did this thing where the chopped at a 'tree' to make holds for planks, climbed on top of the plank, and did it all over again. Here are some pictures of the event.

(sorry, loading pictures is just not working here. But I have them on my facebook) 

Pretty neat. Anyway, that's all for today. Hopefully I'll be able to get over to the library tomorrow to post this stuff (it's open again!). And I'll have school, and the gym about three doors down is having a free class week. Lots of stuff to do! This weekend I'll be heading over to Madrid with some other auxiliares, and maybe we'll get to visit something cool (Prado, perhaps?).

Now I'm off to watch the episode of X-Files I managed to download in my entrance hall before that elderly couple came inside. It starts with a guy ripping his heart out of his chest and not dying, so it looks pretty good!

 

Update- Mopey, lovestruck, but only because of a writer who can control people, Scully episode. Bleh. Totally out of character.

An axe to grind...

*Cough cough* Man. No matter how long I stay here, the one thing I think I'll never get used to is the amount of smoking in Spain. It's like being in a Vegas casino when you're outdoors. Everybody smokes, which actually makes my science-liking brain wonder, what's the percentage of lung cancer here? Sure, all the old men sound like the Godfather, but I have yet to see someone with a tube sticking out of their throat. Perhaps their cigarettes are better filtered than ours, I don't know. Either way, for someone who is both not used to and severely dislikes second hand smoke, it's a tough adjustment.

Not much to report today. I was inexplicably tired all day (and a little cranky, if truth be told), even though I got a eight hours of sleep last night. Perhaps it was the lack of activity, but all I really did after church today was sit in the plaza and read A Feast for Crows. I'm about 250 pages in, which is a problem because I started it today. I know I'm going to be jonesing for the fifth one, which they have here, but it's in Spanish and in a three volume paperback set. Plus I kind of like the use of 'fantasy' language in the English version (lady mother, sweetling, etc.) and I'm not sure I would be able to understand it in Spanish. I could brave the post and buy it online, but I've just heard awful things about mailing things in Spain, and my mailbox is missing the pane of glass that separates it from the prying hands of the outside world. Plus, I don't think I have a mail key. I guess I'll read it in tiny text on my phone. Anyway... I digress.

The one cool thing that happened today was a wood chopping competition. They set up all these stumps and logs in the plaza, and had these professional wood choppers demonstrate different ways of cutting the wood. They turned it into a competition, too. I was most impressed by this woman with massive arm muscles. She was great, and won two out of three of her competitions. They also had this big guy, who was one of the top wood choppers (I'm sure there's a more elegant name for him, but I don't know it) in Spain. He did this thing where the chopped at a 'tree' to make holds for planks, climbed on top of the plank, and did it all over again. Here are some pictures of the event.

(sorry, loading pictures is just not working here. But I have them on my facebook) 

Pretty neat. Anyway, that's all for today. Hopefully I'll be able to get over to the library tomorrow to post this stuff (it's open again!). And I'll have school, and the gym about three doors down is having a free class week. Lots of stuff to do! This weekend I'll be heading over to Madrid with some other auxiliares, and maybe we'll get to visit something cool (Prado, perhaps?).

Now I'm off to watch the episode of X-Files I managed to download in my entrance hall before that elderly couple came inside. It starts with a guy ripping his heart out of his chest and not dying, so it looks pretty good!

 

Update- Mopey, lovestruck, but only because of a writer who can control people, Scully episode. Bleh. Totally out of character.