Before I finish my posts about Morocco, I'm going to write about this past week so I don't forget it all.
Tuesday evening had my methodology class and teaching development class. In the teaching class Nicole, Holly and I did our presentations. We presented our lesson plan in Spanish, and then acted out the actual class. We made everyone sit on the floor, or in the "English corner" like we do with the little kids. Nicole read a story - very enthusiastically. I've learned a lot from being in a group with her because she's very good with kids. She wants to be a preschool teacher. The I presented the vocab words from the story - Easter eggs, basket, bunny, and sick (the bunny gets sick in the story). I went over them a few times with the kids, and then laid them out on the floor and asked a few students to come up and hand me whichever I asked for. When they gave me the correct one I asked them for a high five, just like with the little kids. Then I played another game where I laid out all the cards and the kids had to repeat them all in order, Easter eggs, basket, bunny, sick. Then they'd close their eyes and I'd take one away. They'd have to repeat all four words again, including the one that I took away. Apparently this is good practice because it forces them to recall the word without seeing it. Then Holly went and played another game with them. It seemed to go very well but it's hard to say. The two presentations from the week before I had thought went well got picked apart in class today. The whole time we present someone video tapes and we watch and critique them in class. The same goes for our actual teaching. In a few weeks Luis will come tape our class and then in our weekly one-on-one meeting with him we'll watch and critique ourselves. I'm really learning a lot in this class. After class I went out with Kimby, Sarah, Nicole, and three guys from their soccer team. One is from Spain, one from Germany, and one from Wisconsin. I talked a lot with the kid from Germany about travelling and about how mad I am I'm not going to Germany. Still don't know how that happened because that was the number one country I wanted to see! I also told him that I love him, because that's the only thing I know how to say (thanks Mom). I will learn German one day though! Yesterday I had my cooking class in the morning. Did nothing all day. Except nap a little bit. I was so tired. Had my flamenco class and it was really boring. But I did get my midterm back. This was the hardest test, the one I thought I did the worst on. I got an 89! Today I went to volunteer at the high school in the morning. Sat around for an hour because there was some confusion with where I was going. Again. Luckily I brought my homework and got most of one of my essays done. One 3ish more to go! Then I went to teaching at 12. I got there and was greeted by that little boy whose name I don't know again. He jumped on me and wanted me to pick him up, so I did. He squeezed me so hard with his faced pressed again mine, I couldn't move. I'm not really sure what to do in a situation like that because I couldn't really get him off of me. I finally was able to put him down but he continued hugging my leg. Then the usual 5 year old girls came up and hugged me. It's really weird they just huddle around my legs and just don't move. A little while later I saw the little boy hugging and giving kisses to another little boy. The kids here are really different. When it was time to go in from recess, Coral grabbed my hand again. Then Paula grabbed my other hand, and she and Ana got into a shoving match because they both wanted to hold my hand. Again, I never know what to do in this situation because I probably should make them get in line to walk in from recess but they're so cute!! Did the usual, quiet time and stickers. Today I made sure no one got to pick their stickers. Then I sang the "Good Morning" song and the "Hello Monkey" song and they all kissed the monkey. Some of them grabbed him and wouldn't let go, namely Coral. Alicia was my helper today. She was a lot more responsive than Maksim. I reviewed the vocab a little. Then played the vocab game with them quickly, just had a few of them come up and give monkey whatever he asked for. Then while they were still in the English corner, I told them they'd be making headbands. I made one quickly in front of them: colored a star in crayon, cut it out, then stapled it on to some construction paper, and wore it on my head. They were all in amazement. They were overly excited about it. They started a chant, saying "Que divertido! Que divertido!" (How fun! How fun!). They colored in their stars and cut them out. When they brought them up to me I would ask them "What color do you want, red or purple?" I made them respond in English, then stapled them on their heads. They loved the activity, it took a good amount of time, and everyone behaved! Even when they finished and did whatever they wanted they weren't as crazy as usual. Then they went out to recess. After recess I read them a few stories. I wasn't prepared for this so the stories were in Spanish, which is a little embarrassing. My Spanish is good in a class full of Americans. But reading a story to little kids I'm just wondering what they think of my accent. Because they're too young to understand that I'm a foreigner. Whatever, they already have read each story a hundred times. I threw in some English too, asking what color things were and stuff. Overall it was a very successful class. I was walking home, almost there, and I noticed my vision was kind of weird. Turned out to be a migraine and by the time I got home part of my vision was blurred. Luckily I had been close to home, so I took some Advil and slept for almost two hours. Oh and when I got there I had a package on my bed! Oatmeal raisin cookies, facewash, and airborne! The cookies are delicious and the airborne is much needed. Thanks Dad and Lany!! By the time I woke up the blurriness was gone, but my neck was really sore. I didn't feel 100% but I ate lunch and then went to class. Had methodology in which we learned about phonetics of different languages. I love this class, it's so interesting. We debated the importance of pronunciation when teaching a language. I think it's important but it shouldn't be the number one focus. It's more important that the students talk and are learning vocabulary. Got back out midterms.. got a 95! Then had my teaching class. We critiqued two of the groups midterms. My head ache is gone now but my upper back and neck are killing. I need a chiropractor!!!!
jueves, 22 de marzo de 2012
miércoles, 21 de marzo de 2012
Morocco Day 1
Last Friday I went to Morocco with the Teaching Development group. Woke up at 515am and met up with the group at 6. We took a two and half hour bus ride to a port where we got the ferry. The ferry took about an hour, then we had another hour and a half bus ride. When we first got to Africa, it was beautiful. We were on the water and there were mountains in the distance and colorful buildings. It was a warm day in the high 60s. The first thing we did when we got to Morocco was visit an elementary school. We up a hill where we had a really pretty view of the city. There was a crazy looking cemetery that I got some pictures of. We entered this doorway that led to an area of really small streets. There were dirty looking people sitting outside of a store staring at us, some animal fur hanging to dry, a blanket with a bunch of bread laying on it - and flies all over it. Not a great first impression but we walked up some windy stairs of stone, up a hill, and got to the school. We entered the door and it was a big open lobby, but it was a playground area. A big patio with basketball hoops. Some kids were there and they were very friendly.
We went upstairs to an office and met someone important, maybe the principal. They talked a little about how the school is run, and we had some delicious pastries and tea. He told us how tea is very, very popular in Morocco. It was amazing. It was green tea with spearmint and sugar. They serve it everywhere after meals and stuff. We went out to the hallway, where you could see down onto the patio, and we watched the students line up and salute the flag. They sang some song in Arabic as the flag was lowered. So from there they split us into two groups - half observed an Arabic class and half a French class. I picked French.
The classroom was little and brightly colored. The desks were tables made of wood with benches. We sat with the kids and watched them learn French. Some of the students went up to the board one by one, and with a ruler pointed to and read some words and phrases in French. The teacher corrected their mistakes and helped them with their pronunciation. Everything was pretty fast-paced and the teacher was very enthusiastic and a little scary. The kids were so cute they kept looking at us and smiling. When the teacher wanted someone to go to the board they'd all jump out of their seats and way their fingers in the air. They read a passage from their book a few times and went over some vocabulary words. On our way out we went into an infantil class full of four-ish year olds. They were adorable. One little boy was sitting in the corner being punished. Then we left. Walking through the little streets it was obvious we weren't in Spain anymore. The people just kind of stared at us, as we were clearly foreigners. It was pretty dirty. There were stray cats everywhere. We got to the place where we were eating lunch. It was really cool. Everything in Morocco just seemed dirty though. There was an ant on my plate when we sat down. We got served bread and soup first. The bread was okay. Nothing special. The soup was, I think, a bunch of spices and vegetables blended. Then they put a big plate of chicken, couscous, carrots, cabbage, turnip, and potatoes in the middle of our table. Apparently it's normal for everyone to just eat off the big plate, so that's what we did. It was really good. Tasted like a corn beef dinner except with chicken. They served oranges with cinnamon, sugar and a little salt which tasted really good. While we were eating some guy came out with a tray on his head filled with a bunch of little candles. He spun it and danced around. Then he laid on the ground with it still on his head, and did some weird thing where he put his hand on the ground, and leaving it in place, he spun his body under it kind of? I don't know it was strange.
From there we walked through the little streets some more. There were a lot of vendors and markets. It was weird because when you were in the streets you almost feel like you're in a building because the walls are white, tall, close together, so it feels like a hallway. But the top is open. Anyways there'd be guys selling souvenirs or jewelry or something and they'd follow you all the way down and try to get you to buy them. Pretty annoying. I've never been anywhere as bad as far as the vendors. If you stop just to look at something, they're showing you a million things, and no matter how many times you say no they won't leave you alone. It's also great though because it's very easy to bargain with them, they'll rarely say no and you can get things for really cheap. We then caught our bus and headed off to the university. Not your typical college. First off because it was Friday, and they don't have class on Fridays, it was dead. But it was also clearly old and non-American. There were palm trees and orange trees like in Sevilla - so pretty. The buildings were made out of brick and painted white. We got to an English class and sat near the back to observe. There were about 30 students. The teacher explained who we were and why we were there. She's from California and is there teaching. She printed out Obama's speech about how he wants to fix the relationship between American and Muslims. A few of the students read parts of it, and then we split into groups to analyze it. Yes, we, including the American students. She had us count off by number so that there'd be a mix of Moroccans and Americans. We introduced ourselves in our groups and we had to find the seven points that Obama wanted to address. All of the students spoke English very well, and some of them have only taken formal classes for a few years. It's crazy how many languages some of them know. Most know French, Spanish, English, and Arabic. A few I talked to knew more or less, but that's crazy. We then had to decide which issue of Obama's speech was most important. We asked the Moroccan's what they thought. They chose religious freedom, democracy, and women's rights. One of the girls and one of the boys were very opinionated. She was saying how Morocco is making steps towards democracy but the boy disagreed and said that the politicians are just good liars and that things are just getting worse. They talked about how outside of the elections people buy votes. They girls also said they wished they had more rights. They can do a lot of things, like voting and driving, but they're still not equal to men, especially when it comes to working. They also picked religious freedom because they hate how they are viewed when they go to other countries. We also discussed religious issues between other countries and how they're unnecessary. It was really cool being in class with Moroccans and discussed world issues. They have the same opinions as us. It's just crazy to think how some people in America hate Muslims and are so judgmental because they Moroccan students aren't very different from us. After class everyone kept talking and we all exchanged Facebook information. As we were getting on the bus, the students came with us. We were a little confused but apparently our teacher's had invited them to hang out with us for a little while. We went and walked along the beach. It was beautiful. Went and put my feet in the Mediterranean.. so nice. We all sort of split off. I was with Nicole, Sarah, and maybe eight Moroccans. I was talking to one kid for a while about different places that we've traveled and I was asking which countries were his favorite. His favorite was Germany and he told me it was because they were nice there. He was telling me in England he went somewhere and someone who worked there asked where he was from, and then they told him to get the fuck out. I was surprised, and he said that happens a lot and it's hard for them in some places. That's sad. I talked to one of the girls for a while and asked her about her hijab. I was curious why some girls wore them and some didn't. She said that it's just a personal choice whether or not they want to wear it. I also discussed music with a few of them. They listen to Arabic music but also some American music - mostly rap and hip hop. They love Eminem, Tupac, Dr. Dre, Rihanna, etc. I learned so much hanging out with the Moroccans and observing their classes. It was funny they all would come up to us and ask for a picture or our emails. They were really nice. Two different kids told me I looked like some actress. One thought I was a Spanish actress from some movie he'd seen. Sweet, if I can perfect my accent maybe I can pass as Spanish. After we left, went to our hotel, and ate dinner. We had vegetables, an omlette, potatoes, and rice. Kimby, Sarah, Nicole, Kirsten, Michelle, Kaitlin, and I hung out in Kimby and Sarah's room and played a game called loaded questions. Everyone writes down some questions and folds them up. Then someone picks a question, and everyone has to write down an answer. Then you give your answer to the person next to the one who picked the question. The person reads the answers, and the person who picked the question has to guess who said what. It was actually a lot of fun and a good way to learn about your friends. My answers were apparently predicable because they were able to pick mine out almost every time.
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| the cemetery |
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| The little streets |
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| The elementary school |
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| The tea and pastries in the principal's office |
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| saluting the flag |
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| French class |
The classroom was little and brightly colored. The desks were tables made of wood with benches. We sat with the kids and watched them learn French. Some of the students went up to the board one by one, and with a ruler pointed to and read some words and phrases in French. The teacher corrected their mistakes and helped them with their pronunciation. Everything was pretty fast-paced and the teacher was very enthusiastic and a little scary. The kids were so cute they kept looking at us and smiling. When the teacher wanted someone to go to the board they'd all jump out of their seats and way their fingers in the air. They read a passage from their book a few times and went over some vocabulary words. On our way out we went into an infantil class full of four-ish year olds. They were adorable. One little boy was sitting in the corner being punished. Then we left. Walking through the little streets it was obvious we weren't in Spain anymore. The people just kind of stared at us, as we were clearly foreigners. It was pretty dirty. There were stray cats everywhere. We got to the place where we were eating lunch. It was really cool. Everything in Morocco just seemed dirty though. There was an ant on my plate when we sat down. We got served bread and soup first. The bread was okay. Nothing special. The soup was, I think, a bunch of spices and vegetables blended. Then they put a big plate of chicken, couscous, carrots, cabbage, turnip, and potatoes in the middle of our table. Apparently it's normal for everyone to just eat off the big plate, so that's what we did. It was really good. Tasted like a corn beef dinner except with chicken. They served oranges with cinnamon, sugar and a little salt which tasted really good. While we were eating some guy came out with a tray on his head filled with a bunch of little candles. He spun it and danced around. Then he laid on the ground with it still on his head, and did some weird thing where he put his hand on the ground, and leaving it in place, he spun his body under it kind of? I don't know it was strange.
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| The American and Moroccan students at the University |
From there we walked through the little streets some more. There were a lot of vendors and markets. It was weird because when you were in the streets you almost feel like you're in a building because the walls are white, tall, close together, so it feels like a hallway. But the top is open. Anyways there'd be guys selling souvenirs or jewelry or something and they'd follow you all the way down and try to get you to buy them. Pretty annoying. I've never been anywhere as bad as far as the vendors. If you stop just to look at something, they're showing you a million things, and no matter how many times you say no they won't leave you alone. It's also great though because it's very easy to bargain with them, they'll rarely say no and you can get things for really cheap. We then caught our bus and headed off to the university. Not your typical college. First off because it was Friday, and they don't have class on Fridays, it was dead. But it was also clearly old and non-American. There were palm trees and orange trees like in Sevilla - so pretty. The buildings were made out of brick and painted white. We got to an English class and sat near the back to observe. There were about 30 students. The teacher explained who we were and why we were there. She's from California and is there teaching. She printed out Obama's speech about how he wants to fix the relationship between American and Muslims. A few of the students read parts of it, and then we split into groups to analyze it. Yes, we, including the American students. She had us count off by number so that there'd be a mix of Moroccans and Americans. We introduced ourselves in our groups and we had to find the seven points that Obama wanted to address. All of the students spoke English very well, and some of them have only taken formal classes for a few years. It's crazy how many languages some of them know. Most know French, Spanish, English, and Arabic. A few I talked to knew more or less, but that's crazy. We then had to decide which issue of Obama's speech was most important. We asked the Moroccan's what they thought. They chose religious freedom, democracy, and women's rights. One of the girls and one of the boys were very opinionated. She was saying how Morocco is making steps towards democracy but the boy disagreed and said that the politicians are just good liars and that things are just getting worse. They talked about how outside of the elections people buy votes. They girls also said they wished they had more rights. They can do a lot of things, like voting and driving, but they're still not equal to men, especially when it comes to working. They also picked religious freedom because they hate how they are viewed when they go to other countries. We also discussed religious issues between other countries and how they're unnecessary. It was really cool being in class with Moroccans and discussed world issues. They have the same opinions as us. It's just crazy to think how some people in America hate Muslims and are so judgmental because they Moroccan students aren't very different from us. After class everyone kept talking and we all exchanged Facebook information. As we were getting on the bus, the students came with us. We were a little confused but apparently our teacher's had invited them to hang out with us for a little while. We went and walked along the beach. It was beautiful. Went and put my feet in the Mediterranean.. so nice. We all sort of split off. I was with Nicole, Sarah, and maybe eight Moroccans. I was talking to one kid for a while about different places that we've traveled and I was asking which countries were his favorite. His favorite was Germany and he told me it was because they were nice there. He was telling me in England he went somewhere and someone who worked there asked where he was from, and then they told him to get the fuck out. I was surprised, and he said that happens a lot and it's hard for them in some places. That's sad. I talked to one of the girls for a while and asked her about her hijab. I was curious why some girls wore them and some didn't. She said that it's just a personal choice whether or not they want to wear it. I also discussed music with a few of them. They listen to Arabic music but also some American music - mostly rap and hip hop. They love Eminem, Tupac, Dr. Dre, Rihanna, etc. I learned so much hanging out with the Moroccans and observing their classes. It was funny they all would come up to us and ask for a picture or our emails. They were really nice. Two different kids told me I looked like some actress. One thought I was a Spanish actress from some movie he'd seen. Sweet, if I can perfect my accent maybe I can pass as Spanish. After we left, went to our hotel, and ate dinner. We had vegetables, an omlette, potatoes, and rice. Kimby, Sarah, Nicole, Kirsten, Michelle, Kaitlin, and I hung out in Kimby and Sarah's room and played a game called loaded questions. Everyone writes down some questions and folds them up. Then someone picks a question, and everyone has to write down an answer. Then you give your answer to the person next to the one who picked the question. The person reads the answers, and the person who picked the question has to guess who said what. It was actually a lot of fun and a good way to learn about your friends. My answers were apparently predicable because they were able to pick mine out almost every time.
martes, 20 de marzo de 2012
20/3/2012
So I've been realllly busy lately. First I had midterms, which required a tonnn of studying. Then I went to Morocco this weekend. Left at 6am on Friday and didn't get back til 1030pm Sunday. We were up early everyday and the weekend was packed. I wrote in my journal already so I'm going to write a blog entry about it when I have time. But as of right now I have a presentation today, 10 2-4 page essays due Thursday, and today was my first day of teaching, so I had to work on the lesson plan. I'm going to write about my day teaching now though because my memory is horrible..
Yesterday I had cooking class in the morning. Came back and starting working on my essays, then met up with Nicole and Holly to work on our presentation. We have to present our lesson plan to our teaching development class and then do a 20 minute lesson. We decided to do an Easter lesson. We're going to read a book, then play some games using 5 vocab words from the book. After that I had class. Found out the teacher wasn't going to be there so I skipped it to continue working on my essays. Got 4 done which is pretty good. Came home and had dinner. Tuna sandwich with some veggies - really good. Senora made me two. While we were eating something came up about Luis, senoras boyfriend. I asked what happened and she was saying she was annoyed. Apparently he was just overbearing and it was too much for her to handle. She wants to enjoy the next few years while she's still young (apparently she's almost 60. My calculations were off) to travel and stuff. She has family in Germany, and her niece is studying in England, so she wants to go visit them. But she was saying how Luis can't go and he's never happy for her, he just gets jealous. So she was saying if he doesn't change then he doesn't really love and and she'll move on. Either way it doesn't seem like she cares much. She was saying she just needs some time to be single and worry about herself. So that's the deal with senora. Anyways, yesterday I got an e-mail in the morning, which I didn't see til 9pm. It told me I was going to volunteer at a high school tomorrow (today) at 10am. Funny because I went to the meeting about volunteering in February. I hadn't heard from the lady in charge, so I figured they didn't need me. Then the TDP director e-mailed me last week and told me my placement, and asked if I was still interested. I told her how busy I was and that if it were close by and I could find the time to do it, I would, but I needed to think about it. Well apparently they took that as a yes. I was going to say no, but I googled the address of the school, and it turns out it's 6 minutes from where I live. It's also 3 minutes to the bus station where I would catch the bus to go to my teaching. So I woke up this morning and went to the school where I'll be volunteering. I filled out some paper work and sat in the teacher's lounge for a half hour, waiting for the director. She met me quickly and told me she'd e-mail me the plan. I ran home quickly since I had about a half hour before I needed to go to teaching. I finished up one of my essays, and went to my first day of teaching. Got there and the kids were at recess as usual. There's this one little boy, I think he told me today that he's four, that always come up as soon as I get there and greets me. He stands there waving at me for a minutes, then he just hugs me and won't let go for like 5 minutes. He never talks, so I didn't know if there was something wrong with him. Plus it's always the little girls that come up and hug me. But anyways, today he asked me what was on my hand. What is on my hand? Well.. when I was in Morocco I felt that it was important to experience the culture. I ate the food, attended class, bought some cool earring. So when I saw an old lady doing henna on the street for 2 euro, I thought it was a good idea. Oops. A few girls in my group got it done, and it looked pretty. Just a bunch of flowers on their hand. Well my lady was horrible. She just globbed on a bunch of black ink, making think, dark flowers. It starts at the top of my pointer finger, goes all the way done the top of my hand, and up my wrist and onto the beginning of my arm. She also made little designs on my thumbs and other fingers. As if this weren't bad enough, when I was sleeping it smudged onto the palm of my other hand. I scrubbed it a lot, and it faded a little bit. So anyways, the little boy can talk. He motioned for me to pick him up, so I did, and he wouldn't let go. Then five little girls ran over to me and hugged me. They were all just huddled around me, while I was holding this little boy. I couldn't move. I was able to put him down, but the little girls stayed huddled around me. Then I feel someone sticking there hands in my back pocket. Sergio! He's such a little trouble maker. Even though I haven't really seen him in weeks, he remembered that I had my cellphone in my back pocket one time. He also tried to fight me. He's seriously crazy. On the way in from recess Coral came up and hugged me. She's such a little brat but when she's cute she's adorable. She grabbed my hand while we walked back into the class. I told them all to sit down and put their heads on the table. I then went around and gave them stickers. Of course Coral always wants to pick her own sticker, and since she was being cute today and actually behaved, I let her. I know I shouldn't give in to her because she'll just think she can always get her way. But I didn't feel like dealing with her crying. Then of course all of the kids wanted to pick their stickers. Whatever. They were at least somewhat quiet today. Except Reyes, who was misbehaving and laying under the table. She got taken outside and yelled at. I opened the shades and sang the "Good Morning" song with the English monkey. Maksim was my helper today. I asked him how he was and to go to the window and tell me what the weather was like. Then I asked the class what month it was but they had some trouble with March. Also had to ask them the day and the season, which I messed up, because I didn't know today was the first day of spring. I reviewed their vocab words with them - juice, ice cream, grapes, and cake (party food). Then I played a game with them where they had to bring monkey the food item I asked for. Then I had them color a worksheet with each of the four words. I told them to make the grapes green and the rest whatever they wanted. Most of them did what they were supposed to. When they were done I wrote on them "GREEN GRAPES" "EXCELLENT!". Then the teacher took over because they kids needed to practice a dance they are doing for some show. She had half the kids line up. Six girls on one side, six boys across from them. They began dancing to "You're the One that I Want" for Grease! Cutest thing I've ever seen! It starts off with the boys combing back their hair, then they throw their little fleece jackets, and fall on their knees in front of the girls. Then the girls stand there with their hands on their hips with attitude, and the throw down paper flowers and step on them. Then the boys dance with the girls. It's adorrrrrable! The other half of the class does some Spanish dance kind of similar to the Hokey-Pokey. After this I sent them off to their centers. It went relatively smoothly. One girl cut some of her hair, another girl cried. But that's nothing compared to the normal chaos. When it was almost time to leave Blanca jumped up on me and said "Teacher Danielle te quiero (I love you!)" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She is seriously the cutest little girl ever. The little Spanish kids are so loving. I'm really glad I picked little kids. They're lesson plans are easier and I'm not nervous to teach them. When I was going to the high school today I was nervous. High school kids are judgmental and probably know more about English than I do since a lot of the grammar I learned naturally. I just got an e-mail from the lady I met with this morning saying that I will be going to the higschool Tuesdays and Thursdays 830-1030 to help the teacher's make their lesson plans. While that means I'm going to be extremely busy, it will be really good practicing helping to create lesson plans.
Yesterday I had cooking class in the morning. Came back and starting working on my essays, then met up with Nicole and Holly to work on our presentation. We have to present our lesson plan to our teaching development class and then do a 20 minute lesson. We decided to do an Easter lesson. We're going to read a book, then play some games using 5 vocab words from the book. After that I had class. Found out the teacher wasn't going to be there so I skipped it to continue working on my essays. Got 4 done which is pretty good. Came home and had dinner. Tuna sandwich with some veggies - really good. Senora made me two. While we were eating something came up about Luis, senoras boyfriend. I asked what happened and she was saying she was annoyed. Apparently he was just overbearing and it was too much for her to handle. She wants to enjoy the next few years while she's still young (apparently she's almost 60. My calculations were off) to travel and stuff. She has family in Germany, and her niece is studying in England, so she wants to go visit them. But she was saying how Luis can't go and he's never happy for her, he just gets jealous. So she was saying if he doesn't change then he doesn't really love and and she'll move on. Either way it doesn't seem like she cares much. She was saying she just needs some time to be single and worry about herself. So that's the deal with senora. Anyways, yesterday I got an e-mail in the morning, which I didn't see til 9pm. It told me I was going to volunteer at a high school tomorrow (today) at 10am. Funny because I went to the meeting about volunteering in February. I hadn't heard from the lady in charge, so I figured they didn't need me. Then the TDP director e-mailed me last week and told me my placement, and asked if I was still interested. I told her how busy I was and that if it were close by and I could find the time to do it, I would, but I needed to think about it. Well apparently they took that as a yes. I was going to say no, but I googled the address of the school, and it turns out it's 6 minutes from where I live. It's also 3 minutes to the bus station where I would catch the bus to go to my teaching. So I woke up this morning and went to the school where I'll be volunteering. I filled out some paper work and sat in the teacher's lounge for a half hour, waiting for the director. She met me quickly and told me she'd e-mail me the plan. I ran home quickly since I had about a half hour before I needed to go to teaching. I finished up one of my essays, and went to my first day of teaching. Got there and the kids were at recess as usual. There's this one little boy, I think he told me today that he's four, that always come up as soon as I get there and greets me. He stands there waving at me for a minutes, then he just hugs me and won't let go for like 5 minutes. He never talks, so I didn't know if there was something wrong with him. Plus it's always the little girls that come up and hug me. But anyways, today he asked me what was on my hand. What is on my hand? Well.. when I was in Morocco I felt that it was important to experience the culture. I ate the food, attended class, bought some cool earring. So when I saw an old lady doing henna on the street for 2 euro, I thought it was a good idea. Oops. A few girls in my group got it done, and it looked pretty. Just a bunch of flowers on their hand. Well my lady was horrible. She just globbed on a bunch of black ink, making think, dark flowers. It starts at the top of my pointer finger, goes all the way done the top of my hand, and up my wrist and onto the beginning of my arm. She also made little designs on my thumbs and other fingers. As if this weren't bad enough, when I was sleeping it smudged onto the palm of my other hand. I scrubbed it a lot, and it faded a little bit. So anyways, the little boy can talk. He motioned for me to pick him up, so I did, and he wouldn't let go. Then five little girls ran over to me and hugged me. They were all just huddled around me, while I was holding this little boy. I couldn't move. I was able to put him down, but the little girls stayed huddled around me. Then I feel someone sticking there hands in my back pocket. Sergio! He's such a little trouble maker. Even though I haven't really seen him in weeks, he remembered that I had my cellphone in my back pocket one time. He also tried to fight me. He's seriously crazy. On the way in from recess Coral came up and hugged me. She's such a little brat but when she's cute she's adorable. She grabbed my hand while we walked back into the class. I told them all to sit down and put their heads on the table. I then went around and gave them stickers. Of course Coral always wants to pick her own sticker, and since she was being cute today and actually behaved, I let her. I know I shouldn't give in to her because she'll just think she can always get her way. But I didn't feel like dealing with her crying. Then of course all of the kids wanted to pick their stickers. Whatever. They were at least somewhat quiet today. Except Reyes, who was misbehaving and laying under the table. She got taken outside and yelled at. I opened the shades and sang the "Good Morning" song with the English monkey. Maksim was my helper today. I asked him how he was and to go to the window and tell me what the weather was like. Then I asked the class what month it was but they had some trouble with March. Also had to ask them the day and the season, which I messed up, because I didn't know today was the first day of spring. I reviewed their vocab words with them - juice, ice cream, grapes, and cake (party food). Then I played a game with them where they had to bring monkey the food item I asked for. Then I had them color a worksheet with each of the four words. I told them to make the grapes green and the rest whatever they wanted. Most of them did what they were supposed to. When they were done I wrote on them "GREEN GRAPES" "EXCELLENT!". Then the teacher took over because they kids needed to practice a dance they are doing for some show. She had half the kids line up. Six girls on one side, six boys across from them. They began dancing to "You're the One that I Want" for Grease! Cutest thing I've ever seen! It starts off with the boys combing back their hair, then they throw their little fleece jackets, and fall on their knees in front of the girls. Then the girls stand there with their hands on their hips with attitude, and the throw down paper flowers and step on them. Then the boys dance with the girls. It's adorrrrrable! The other half of the class does some Spanish dance kind of similar to the Hokey-Pokey. After this I sent them off to their centers. It went relatively smoothly. One girl cut some of her hair, another girl cried. But that's nothing compared to the normal chaos. When it was almost time to leave Blanca jumped up on me and said "Teacher Danielle te quiero (I love you!)" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She is seriously the cutest little girl ever. The little Spanish kids are so loving. I'm really glad I picked little kids. They're lesson plans are easier and I'm not nervous to teach them. When I was going to the high school today I was nervous. High school kids are judgmental and probably know more about English than I do since a lot of the grammar I learned naturally. I just got an e-mail from the lady I met with this morning saying that I will be going to the higschool Tuesdays and Thursdays 830-1030 to help the teacher's make their lesson plans. While that means I'm going to be extremely busy, it will be really good practicing helping to create lesson plans.
miércoles, 14 de marzo de 2012
14/3/2012
Yesterday went to the school.. last week of observing. So crazy! I got to the school and saw Ana outside. Yes, her name is Ana. Apparently I misheard and thought her name was Elena. She asked me to correct my teacher because he had e-mailed her calling her Ana. Oops. Anyways, she told me she would e-mail me the lesson that I need to cover for next week. The five weeks (can't believe it's been five weeks already) of observation have definitely helped and I've learned a lot. I'm ready to start teaching. In class Tuesday they were reviewing colors (red, green, blue, and yellow) and numbers 1,2,3,4, with flash cards. The kids knew them all pretty well. They then went to their seats and had to connect circles with dots (1,2, or 3) to the numbers. I had to write their names on some of the papers again - I'm getting better at it. Although apparently I'm supposed to write the names and put them in the middle of the table, facing down, so they can find them, as the kids corrected me. They colored the paper in and brought it to the teacher when they were done and she'd write "perfect!" on it. The problem is, when the kids are done, they can apparently do whatever they want. So for almost ten minutes while the slow ones are finishing up, the other kids are running around and being rambunctious. So of course some issue always arises. One of the little boys, Jesus, who is the one of the two sweet ones in the class, started saying about Alvaro being in the bathroom. At the front of the classroom there's a bathroom with windows so you can see in (above the toilets though, and the little kids are too short to see) and the door is always left open. Then when you go in there is are two toilets to the right - directly next to each other, nothing separating them. No stalls, just toilets. So I went in there, and Blanca and Paula are on the toilets, and Alvaro is standing right in front of them, just kind of looking at them and hanging out in the bathroom. Paula is very unfiltered and demanding, but in a cute way. She'll just come up to me and say "Why do you have a bracelet on? Who gave you this necklace? What are you eating for lunch?" She's cute I like her. So I went in there and she was like "Hacemos caca los dos!" She told me that they were both "making caca", so I kicked Alvaro out. Well my bad, because he peed his pants like a half hour later. The kids played with centers - she let them lose to wear costumes and/or play with blocks. The costumes are adorable. There were princesses everywhere. Two of the little boys wear wearing scrubs and doctors masks it was so cute. And then one little girl was wearing a football jersey and a helmet made out of felt. Okay they were all cute! Except Coral, who cried because she wanted the princess dress that one of the other girls was wearing. She's such a little snob! Some of the kids were playing with a bucket full of shapes that were red, blue and yellow. So I went over and started asking them what colors they were. They knew them very well. Then they kept picking them up and asking me what color they were.. so I continued to play with them because I was at least putting my English to good use here. Everything was going exceptionally well. Ana was getting her hair done by Alicia while and a few other girls, I was playing with Pablo and Alejandro (who can both be little terrors- especially Alejandro- he is so adorable. He's so tiny and cute, but he can be a little troublemaker), but anyways they were both behaving, and a few other kids. The rest of the class was sitting down doing puzzles, watching Tinkerbell or playing with blocks. There wasn't much running around or commotion for about 20 minutes. Then all of a sudden everything stopped when Ana asked Alvaro "Did you make pee inside your pants? Why did you make pee inside??" Someone came in to clean him up. It smelled gross. He's cute but I think he's evil. When they finished with centers it was time to go. I came home and starting studying for my exams. Had lunch with the Italian girls. Senora made us hamburgers. The hamburgers here are just gross. They're dense and a weird texture. The girls are nice but having them here is weird. Last night I wanted to shower before bed but they were in the bathroom getting ready. Or this morning I wanted to brush my teeth and they were in there. It's fine that's how it is when you live with other people but it was definitely better when it was just me and senora. Went to class. In my teaching development class our midterms are presentations - teaching English to our own peers. The first two groups went. The first group are students that are teaching secondary here, so kids that are 13 and 14. They decided to teach us the difference between "how much?" and "how many?". This is something that some of them have had to teach here. It's crazy because as they were teaching it, I realized I've never learned this and I had no idea of the reason why. I guess you use "how much?" with non-quantifiable nouns, and "how many?" with quantifiable ones. I've come to realize teaching English to highschoolers really wouldn't be so easy. Teaching Spanish will be much easier because I've had to learn it as a foreign language myself. After class came home and had dinner. We had sandwiches and soup. I'm starting to doubt senoras cooking abilities. She always burns the sandwiches and doesn't know why. Senora, turn down the sandwich press and watch it so it doesn't burn!! The Italian girls are really goofy they're always giggling. They thought it was hilarious because senora was talking about "pizza" but the way she pronounced it sounded like "pisca" which means pee. They're nice though. They've been to a lot of the states. One of them wears I<3NY pajamas. They said they don't like the pizza there. I can only imagine how amazing it's going to be in Italy!
Today I had my meeting with Luis, my teaching development teacher. Every time I meet with him it's so helpful he just knows so much about teaching foreign languages and Spanish grammar. After I had my first final, the cooking one, for which I was up all night studying. The four essay questions that I chose I feel like I knew them well. I took the whole hour and a half and was the last person to finish. On the last question I even had to rush. So we'll see. Came home and had lunch with the girls again. Senora made meatballs with a yellow sauce that was really good, and served them with fries. This is the third time she's made meatballs and each time she's made (homemade) fries with them. It's so funny when the Italian girls speak Spanish because I can hear the Italian accent. You know the way they talk.. like "I like-a the meat-a ball-a". I can't really imitate it online, but you know. Well they talk that way in Spanish, too, and that's not the way Spaniards talk so it sounds funny. After lunch I studied for my next test. Kind of. I was just so tired and sick of studying. I couldn't concentrate and I was so tired so I set my alarm to nap for twenty minutes. When I woke up an hour later, I studied a bit more and went to class. The Flamenco test was multiple choice, fill in the blank, true and false, two short answers, a critical reading analysis, and we had to listen to two songs, decide what type of song they were, and list the characteristics of that type of song. I haven't had a test that wasn't short answer/essay in so long. Not feeling so great about this one. I'm hoping for a high C or a B if I'm lucky. After class had dinner. Lasagna and pizza - surprise surprise. I'm normally not a fan of lasagna, but it was so good! It must just be that American lasagna is not as good. The cheese was creamy and delicious. After dinner went and met up with my intercambio. Talking to him I could really tell how much my Spanish has improved, and he said it's much better. With him I don't feel the pressure like I do when talking in class, or talking to my senora. Also the things we talk about I know what I'm saying because it's not like in class where I have to discuss linguistics and methods of teaching with hard words. We met up at the catedral per usual. This time we just walked around. Sevilla is so pretty at night. I had forgotten, because I haven't gone out, especially at night, because I'd been sick for almost two weeks and went away the last two weekends. We went and bought cheetos - some little white ones (they're so popular here there are tons of varieties) and each bought a beer. But when we went to buy the beer they wouldn't sell it to us because it was past 10. So we ended up getting non-alcoholic beer that was lemon flavored. I wanted to try it even though it sounded weird - it was so good. It tasted like lemon fanta. So we sat out kind of near the river and just talked. We mostly compare words in English and Spanish. He said something about how the person who discovered America was Spanish. And then it all connected in my head. Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) is Spanish!! I know his remains are here and I saw a statue of him in Barcelona. And I knew that Isabel and Fernando sent him to..well wherever he was going when he discovered America. The Indies? Well anyways somehow I never realized this all occurred in Spain. Because when I learned this back in, like, elementary school, I didn't even know what Spain was. It was just some foreign place that I couldn't comprehend. So I didn't remember that he was from Spain. Plus, I used to hate history. Anyways, it's crazy that I'm living in Spain right now. And seeing all of these countries. And visiting all of these historical places. I really should've paid more attention in school!
Today I had my meeting with Luis, my teaching development teacher. Every time I meet with him it's so helpful he just knows so much about teaching foreign languages and Spanish grammar. After I had my first final, the cooking one, for which I was up all night studying. The four essay questions that I chose I feel like I knew them well. I took the whole hour and a half and was the last person to finish. On the last question I even had to rush. So we'll see. Came home and had lunch with the girls again. Senora made meatballs with a yellow sauce that was really good, and served them with fries. This is the third time she's made meatballs and each time she's made (homemade) fries with them. It's so funny when the Italian girls speak Spanish because I can hear the Italian accent. You know the way they talk.. like "I like-a the meat-a ball-a". I can't really imitate it online, but you know. Well they talk that way in Spanish, too, and that's not the way Spaniards talk so it sounds funny. After lunch I studied for my next test. Kind of. I was just so tired and sick of studying. I couldn't concentrate and I was so tired so I set my alarm to nap for twenty minutes. When I woke up an hour later, I studied a bit more and went to class. The Flamenco test was multiple choice, fill in the blank, true and false, two short answers, a critical reading analysis, and we had to listen to two songs, decide what type of song they were, and list the characteristics of that type of song. I haven't had a test that wasn't short answer/essay in so long. Not feeling so great about this one. I'm hoping for a high C or a B if I'm lucky. After class had dinner. Lasagna and pizza - surprise surprise. I'm normally not a fan of lasagna, but it was so good! It must just be that American lasagna is not as good. The cheese was creamy and delicious. After dinner went and met up with my intercambio. Talking to him I could really tell how much my Spanish has improved, and he said it's much better. With him I don't feel the pressure like I do when talking in class, or talking to my senora. Also the things we talk about I know what I'm saying because it's not like in class where I have to discuss linguistics and methods of teaching with hard words. We met up at the catedral per usual. This time we just walked around. Sevilla is so pretty at night. I had forgotten, because I haven't gone out, especially at night, because I'd been sick for almost two weeks and went away the last two weekends. We went and bought cheetos - some little white ones (they're so popular here there are tons of varieties) and each bought a beer. But when we went to buy the beer they wouldn't sell it to us because it was past 10. So we ended up getting non-alcoholic beer that was lemon flavored. I wanted to try it even though it sounded weird - it was so good. It tasted like lemon fanta. So we sat out kind of near the river and just talked. We mostly compare words in English and Spanish. He said something about how the person who discovered America was Spanish. And then it all connected in my head. Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) is Spanish!! I know his remains are here and I saw a statue of him in Barcelona. And I knew that Isabel and Fernando sent him to..well wherever he was going when he discovered America. The Indies? Well anyways somehow I never realized this all occurred in Spain. Because when I learned this back in, like, elementary school, I didn't even know what Spain was. It was just some foreign place that I couldn't comprehend. So I didn't remember that he was from Spain. Plus, I used to hate history. Anyways, it's crazy that I'm living in Spain right now. And seeing all of these countries. And visiting all of these historical places. I really should've paid more attention in school!
lunes, 12 de marzo de 2012
12/3/2012
Midterms week. Ugh. Today I went to cooking class. For this midterm the teacher gave us a list of nine questions - six will be on the test, and we'll have to answer four. Well today she spent the whole hour and a half class going over what we need to write in each of these questions. While it's going to be pretty easy because all of the answers are in the powerpoints, it's a ton of information, all in Spanish, and about food and culture. Gonna be a longggg test. Came back, began studying the questions for this midterm. Went up to the roof and did some work up there because it's almost 80 here and beautiful. (Which reminds me how pissed I am that its 70 at home! The one winter I miss of course isn't even cold!!) Studied all day, took a little nap. So last night I went to charge my phone and it wouldn't charge at all. So much for my excitement about it charging in Paris. So before my 7:00 class I went to the apple store, called "Goldenmac" here. I go up to the guy who works there and start explaining my problem. I wasn't struggling too badly, but of course it would be easier to say it in English. I tried at one point to say when I turn it on.. but I couldn't think of the word. I was struggling trying to think of how to explain what I was trying to say, the guy said "So it charged when you turned it off, but it didn't say it's charging", in clear English. Well that made things a little easier. He took out one of those microscope things that doctors use to look in your ears and looked at the part where the charger goes. He didn't see anything wrong and was going to send me on my way with an apple care card, and told me I would have to send my phone away and they'd send me a new one. Therefore, I'd lose everything on my phone. He looked at my phone one more time, then plugged it in to his computer. If he pushed on it a certain way, it would charge. So that's my solution. I have to hold my phone to charge it. Went to flamenco class - more review for midterms. Came back and got my phone to charge without touching it. My computer still won't let me get my pictures and stuff, but it's charging now. The two Italian girls made pasta for dinner. It was pretty good. They're pretty nice. Really goofy. They're 17 and 18 and from Milan, studying here for two weeks. At dinner the girls were talking about their boyfriends and how they're really jealous that they're here. Then senora was saying how guys can be overbearing. Then she was like "Daniella haven't you noticed Luis hasn't been her? I got annoyed! I told him to go. I don't know if he's coming back, but I don't care". I asked her why and she was like I was annoyed. Very weird. Then she told the girls they've been together for 12 years. No idea what happened haha but it's interesting. Guess we'll see.
domingo, 11 de marzo de 2012
Weekend in Paris
Thursday I was not feeling to well. I was hanging out on my bed doing some homework between teaching and class. It was about 15 minutes before class I felt horrible - feverish, really tired, and I had a cold. So I decided to lay down, and ended up sleeping through my first class. I needed it. Almost slept through the second one, but señora and her friend interrupted my nap to make room for the two Italian girls staying with us. Yes, that's right, I have to share senora now!!! Two students from Italy are staying here for two weeks. There's no extra bedroom but the living room where I usually eat lunch has a pull out couch. The reason that they were rearranging my room is because I had an extra bed. So they took that out and put the extra furniture from the living room in my room. I met the two girls briefly so I don't really know what they're like. Anyways, I made it to my second class. Some kid who did the Teaching Development program last semester came in and talked to us. I had been cold while I was napping, so I was wearing two pairs of socks, uggs, and a sweatshirt. The class was so hot. I really thought I might pass out. I debated either leaving, but I thought that would be rude, or taking off my sweatshirt, which I thought would be inappropriate because I was wearing an undershirt that was little and see through. So I was sitting there trying to listen to this kid, and trying not to die. I eventually caved and took off my sweatshirt and kind of laid it over myself so my shirt didn't look skimpy. I took my boots off, even my socks. Luckily this was my TDP class and I'm friends with everyone so they didn't judge me. I opened the window next to me too, but it was loud outside so I had to close it. Class dragged on, but I made it. At this point, Paris the next morning was not looking too great. I went home and packed. I felt horrible. Had a lot of trouble sleeping that night and only got maybe four hours. Somehow though, when I woke up I felt a lot better.
Paris Day 1
Met up with Michelle and Kirsten at the University at 8 to grab the bus to the airport. Another RyanAir flight. I'm actually really liking flying with these low cost airlines. Not only because they're cheap but because they're surprising quick and efficient. Part of the reason they're so cheap is because they go to the littler airports. So the buses we take to and from the airport go to one door, and your gate is right there. No rushing through the airport frantically looking for your flight. Also we haven't been checking any luggage, and since there are no assigned seats people rush to board the plane, and it's all just very quick. The landing in Paris was not quite as smooth. The plane hit the ground very hard and bounced back up. We made it though. Took an hour and a half bus to the main part of Paris. It was a nice day in Paris. Mid 50s and sunny. We found a metro station and we waited in line to buy tickets. The line was very long because a bunch of people had just come from the same bus we had. We got to the front of the line after about 20 minutes and the machine wouldn't accept our credit cards. We were frustrated and didn't want to deal with it, so we grabbed a taxi and went to our hostel. I had always had such a negative image of hostels. But it was so cute! The walls were zebra and it was decorate with cool lamps and pretty things. We lucked out and got our own room, as opposed to when I go to Ireland with Nicole and Sarah and we'll be having a room with 15 other people. Anyways, Kirsten and I shared bunk beds - I got top bunk. We left the hostel and went to a bakery next door and got pizza. It was AMAZING. It was on thick foccacia bread with cheese, pickled zucchini and eggplant, onion, and some other green vegetable. It was so good. We then went to the Sacre Coeur which was a few minutes from our hostel. I didn't recognize the name but once I saw it I realized I had been there. It's a beautiful white bascilica. We bought tickets to go in it. Kirsten and I bought tickets, and the Kirsten realized the receipt said it charged her for two, but she only got one. And so did mine. So we went and asked the lady inside about it. She was so rude to us. Turned out it was a Mistake. So then Michelle went to buy her ticket, but the machine shut off while she was buying it because it was closing soon. We went to the lady inside, and told her what had happened. She said there was nothing she could do, but then had a change of heart and let Michelle give her the money for it and let her go through. Sure she just pocketed the money, but whatever. We climbed up it, climbed allll the way up the stairs, which was a lot. Especially for someone who hasn't worked out in about four months. It was a beautiful view right at sun set. We walked down, and on the stairs in front of the bascilica, on a big hill, with a really pretty view, there were a bunch of people sitting there. There was a guy playing the guitar and singing "Hallelujah". Love that song. We sat on the steps with all the french people and listened to him play for a while. We then walked down to a street straight ahead with a bunch of touristy shops. On our way down some African guys stopped me and put some strings for a friendship bracelet on my hand. I said no, but then he was like "No I just show you". So then we all stopped and had African guys making friendship bracelets while we held the strings. Mine kept saying "Hakuna Matata" over and over. "Like the Lion King! You know?" Well by the time he was done with the green, black, and yellow bracelet, I really couldn't say no. I mean, it was a Hakuna Matata bracelet that got made on my own hand by some guy in Paris. The other guys asked my friends for 5 euro, which of course I refused to pay. Got mine for 2. Worth it. Anyways, France is so pretty - there were lights all over the street and it's just so lively. And there are carousels everywhere. We saw at least three during our weekend there. On the next street over, I found the most amazing shoe store. The shoes were incredibly unique. So many crazy boots and heels. I wish I had bought more. But I bought a pair of light pink heals with black lace. I wish I had done more shopping, but that's all I bought during my time in Paris. We then took the metro to the Arc de Triumph because we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We went to the top. The view of the city at night was incredible. The Arc de Triumph is an arc right in the intersection of about 5 roads. So to get to it you have to go underground and come up right at it. When you're up there it looks so cool because all of the streets lead right to it. We waited about a half hour, and then saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle. There's nothing like it. It looks cool during the day, pretty when it's lit up yellow at night, but when it sparkles with twinkling white lights (every hour for 5 minutes), it's amazing. I got some pictures, but of course they don't do it justice. On the way back we stopped at a cafe on the Champs Elysees and got banana nutella crepes. Delicious, of course. On the way back we took the metro. There were tons of lines, but it was easy to figure out. However, we did run into one issue. My friend Michelle lacks common sense. She also panics about things and is nervous about everything. Now I have no idea what the issue was, but he metro ticket wouldn't work. So Kirsten and I went through, and the train was coming, and all of a sudden we hear Michelle yelling "Guys I can't get through! It won't work!!" According to her the machine accepted her ticket, let her through the revolving bar, but the door at the end wouldn't open. So we start yelling at her to crawl through. She panics and tries to fit in on the side (it's not a full door), but doesn't fit and clearly that's just not possible. So I yelled at her to go through, and she was literally about to cry at this point. Meanwhile the train is here, so with a look of panic on her face she jumps to the ground and flops around like a dead fish, and is able to fit through and make it just in time to get onto the metro. Her and Kirsten were freaking out about it. I didn't really care. Then we got to the station where we had to switch lines. As with any metro you just walk under ground and change lines. Well between one line and the other we were walking in a tunnel, and we see these guys in puke green jump suits come at us, speaking French. They were checking everyone's tickets. Kirsten and I had the same guy stop us, and Michelle was all alone, almost shitting her pants. None of us could find our tickets. We each had five of them, some we had used already. So I gave the guy one of mine, and apparently it wasn't the right one. I was trying to explain that I had more, but he was saying something in French and pulled me aside. Luckily I ended up finding my ticket and so did Kirsten. I don't know if Michelle ever did, but she got through somehow. They're still convinced that this was all because Michelle snuck through, somehow the people working at the metro knew, and the "Gestapo" was after us as Michelle kept saying. Right. Well despite sneaking into the metro and getting chased by the secret police of Nazi Germany, we made it back just fine. It was a close one.
Day 2
Woke up and had breakfast downstairs in the hostel. Had wicked good cereal. It was granola with a bunch of dried fruit, and I mixed it with cocoa crispies. Had some bread and croissant with cherry jelly too. Today was cloudy and chilly. We then went to the Eiffel Tower via the Metro. We probably should have known better and watched Michelle when she went through, because she had trouble once again. This time she panicked again and squeezed through the side. She was not happy and says she hates Paris now. Anyways, we got off at a stop a little further than the Eiffel Tower because it's higher up and a great place to take pictures. We walked over and waited in the extremely long line to go up it. The line was formed in a circle under the tower leading up to the entrance. There was some guy in the middle with an old school pilots hat and a black dog nose. Anytime someone would walk through the middle he'd announce something like "The President of Kasikstan!" or "My girlfriend!" or "Paris Hilton, ladies and gentleman!" Or he'd get up real close to them and follow them until they noticed. It doesn't sound very fun but it was pretty entertaining and everyone enjoyed it and went along with it. We finally entered and had to take the first elevator to the halfway point. The first elevator is weird because it's really big - fits probably 25 people, and it goes up diagonally. We got to the halfway point and had to wait in line for the next elevator. It was freezing up there. The next elevator was normal, and we went up to the very top. Of course it's a beautiful view. Went down and got some crepes at a vendor across the street. We got ham and cheese ones. They roll them up and serve them to you like a cone. We sat on the steps along the Seine river and ate them. One crepe was just not enough. Well it may have been enough, but I should have known myself better. If I'm eating a crepe I want it to be sweet. If I want ham and cheese I'll have it in sub on some fresh bread. I needed a banana nutellla one. Actually Kirsten was the one who wanted it, but it sounded like a good idea. So after two crepes we went to the Louvre. The Metro stop we got off at was inside of a really cool mall called Carousel that was connected to the Louvre. It had this amazing home goods store. Everything was really bright colors and unique designs. I have some pics of it. We took some pictures outside of the Louvre but didn't go in. We then walked to Notre Dame. One the way we walked right through some parade type protest. I got a cool video of it. No idea what they were protesting since I don't speak french, but they kept saying "Something something NO NO! Something something OUI OUI!!" I just love hearing them say oui oui (wee wee) because it sounds so funny. Stopped for post cards along the way and I saw one of Moulin Rouge, and realized this was in Paris and I wanted to see it. Kirsten tried to convince me it was far away, so I asked the lady who worked there. Turns out it was right by our hostel. Sweet! Saw Notre Dame. We were absolutely exhausted by this point. Took a quick walk through. Then we went to Moulin Rouge. The sign was lit up with a lit up windmill next to it. The rest of the street was lit up, however it was not as historical or pretty. It was filled with sex shops, strip clubs, and restaurants. We headed back to our hostel, and just sat. Couldn't move. After about 30 minutes of just sitting we walked to a bakery near by and got bread for dinner. Kirsten and I split a baguette and some raisin nut bread that was amazing. We bought cream cheese for it and I got an almond french macaroon. We went back and sat on one of the beds and ate our bread. So good. And the macaroon was AMAZINGGG.
I'm loving these weekends trips. While I feel like I don't get to spend much time in Sevilla, these trips are so fulfilling. And tiring, but worth it. By the time we're leaving I'm ready to go home. I feel like I've seen everything I wanted to and it's just really easy to do. I'm really excited for Morocco next weekend, and even more excited to show my Mom around Sevilla the next weekend!!
Paris Day 1
Met up with Michelle and Kirsten at the University at 8 to grab the bus to the airport. Another RyanAir flight. I'm actually really liking flying with these low cost airlines. Not only because they're cheap but because they're surprising quick and efficient. Part of the reason they're so cheap is because they go to the littler airports. So the buses we take to and from the airport go to one door, and your gate is right there. No rushing through the airport frantically looking for your flight. Also we haven't been checking any luggage, and since there are no assigned seats people rush to board the plane, and it's all just very quick. The landing in Paris was not quite as smooth. The plane hit the ground very hard and bounced back up. We made it though. Took an hour and a half bus to the main part of Paris. It was a nice day in Paris. Mid 50s and sunny. We found a metro station and we waited in line to buy tickets. The line was very long because a bunch of people had just come from the same bus we had. We got to the front of the line after about 20 minutes and the machine wouldn't accept our credit cards. We were frustrated and didn't want to deal with it, so we grabbed a taxi and went to our hostel. I had always had such a negative image of hostels. But it was so cute! The walls were zebra and it was decorate with cool lamps and pretty things. We lucked out and got our own room, as opposed to when I go to Ireland with Nicole and Sarah and we'll be having a room with 15 other people. Anyways, Kirsten and I shared bunk beds - I got top bunk. We left the hostel and went to a bakery next door and got pizza. It was AMAZING. It was on thick foccacia bread with cheese, pickled zucchini and eggplant, onion, and some other green vegetable. It was so good. We then went to the Sacre Coeur which was a few minutes from our hostel. I didn't recognize the name but once I saw it I realized I had been there. It's a beautiful white bascilica. We bought tickets to go in it. Kirsten and I bought tickets, and the Kirsten realized the receipt said it charged her for two, but she only got one. And so did mine. So we went and asked the lady inside about it. She was so rude to us. Turned out it was a Mistake. So then Michelle went to buy her ticket, but the machine shut off while she was buying it because it was closing soon. We went to the lady inside, and told her what had happened. She said there was nothing she could do, but then had a change of heart and let Michelle give her the money for it and let her go through. Sure she just pocketed the money, but whatever. We climbed up it, climbed allll the way up the stairs, which was a lot. Especially for someone who hasn't worked out in about four months. It was a beautiful view right at sun set. We walked down, and on the stairs in front of the bascilica, on a big hill, with a really pretty view, there were a bunch of people sitting there. There was a guy playing the guitar and singing "Hallelujah". Love that song. We sat on the steps with all the french people and listened to him play for a while. We then walked down to a street straight ahead with a bunch of touristy shops. On our way down some African guys stopped me and put some strings for a friendship bracelet on my hand. I said no, but then he was like "No I just show you". So then we all stopped and had African guys making friendship bracelets while we held the strings. Mine kept saying "Hakuna Matata" over and over. "Like the Lion King! You know?" Well by the time he was done with the green, black, and yellow bracelet, I really couldn't say no. I mean, it was a Hakuna Matata bracelet that got made on my own hand by some guy in Paris. The other guys asked my friends for 5 euro, which of course I refused to pay. Got mine for 2. Worth it. Anyways, France is so pretty - there were lights all over the street and it's just so lively. And there are carousels everywhere. We saw at least three during our weekend there. On the next street over, I found the most amazing shoe store. The shoes were incredibly unique. So many crazy boots and heels. I wish I had bought more. But I bought a pair of light pink heals with black lace. I wish I had done more shopping, but that's all I bought during my time in Paris. We then took the metro to the Arc de Triumph because we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. We went to the top. The view of the city at night was incredible. The Arc de Triumph is an arc right in the intersection of about 5 roads. So to get to it you have to go underground and come up right at it. When you're up there it looks so cool because all of the streets lead right to it. We waited about a half hour, and then saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle. There's nothing like it. It looks cool during the day, pretty when it's lit up yellow at night, but when it sparkles with twinkling white lights (every hour for 5 minutes), it's amazing. I got some pictures, but of course they don't do it justice. On the way back we stopped at a cafe on the Champs Elysees and got banana nutella crepes. Delicious, of course. On the way back we took the metro. There were tons of lines, but it was easy to figure out. However, we did run into one issue. My friend Michelle lacks common sense. She also panics about things and is nervous about everything. Now I have no idea what the issue was, but he metro ticket wouldn't work. So Kirsten and I went through, and the train was coming, and all of a sudden we hear Michelle yelling "Guys I can't get through! It won't work!!" According to her the machine accepted her ticket, let her through the revolving bar, but the door at the end wouldn't open. So we start yelling at her to crawl through. She panics and tries to fit in on the side (it's not a full door), but doesn't fit and clearly that's just not possible. So I yelled at her to go through, and she was literally about to cry at this point. Meanwhile the train is here, so with a look of panic on her face she jumps to the ground and flops around like a dead fish, and is able to fit through and make it just in time to get onto the metro. Her and Kirsten were freaking out about it. I didn't really care. Then we got to the station where we had to switch lines. As with any metro you just walk under ground and change lines. Well between one line and the other we were walking in a tunnel, and we see these guys in puke green jump suits come at us, speaking French. They were checking everyone's tickets. Kirsten and I had the same guy stop us, and Michelle was all alone, almost shitting her pants. None of us could find our tickets. We each had five of them, some we had used already. So I gave the guy one of mine, and apparently it wasn't the right one. I was trying to explain that I had more, but he was saying something in French and pulled me aside. Luckily I ended up finding my ticket and so did Kirsten. I don't know if Michelle ever did, but she got through somehow. They're still convinced that this was all because Michelle snuck through, somehow the people working at the metro knew, and the "Gestapo" was after us as Michelle kept saying. Right. Well despite sneaking into the metro and getting chased by the secret police of Nazi Germany, we made it back just fine. It was a close one.
Day 2
Woke up and had breakfast downstairs in the hostel. Had wicked good cereal. It was granola with a bunch of dried fruit, and I mixed it with cocoa crispies. Had some bread and croissant with cherry jelly too. Today was cloudy and chilly. We then went to the Eiffel Tower via the Metro. We probably should have known better and watched Michelle when she went through, because she had trouble once again. This time she panicked again and squeezed through the side. She was not happy and says she hates Paris now. Anyways, we got off at a stop a little further than the Eiffel Tower because it's higher up and a great place to take pictures. We walked over and waited in the extremely long line to go up it. The line was formed in a circle under the tower leading up to the entrance. There was some guy in the middle with an old school pilots hat and a black dog nose. Anytime someone would walk through the middle he'd announce something like "The President of Kasikstan!" or "My girlfriend!" or "Paris Hilton, ladies and gentleman!" Or he'd get up real close to them and follow them until they noticed. It doesn't sound very fun but it was pretty entertaining and everyone enjoyed it and went along with it. We finally entered and had to take the first elevator to the halfway point. The first elevator is weird because it's really big - fits probably 25 people, and it goes up diagonally. We got to the halfway point and had to wait in line for the next elevator. It was freezing up there. The next elevator was normal, and we went up to the very top. Of course it's a beautiful view. Went down and got some crepes at a vendor across the street. We got ham and cheese ones. They roll them up and serve them to you like a cone. We sat on the steps along the Seine river and ate them. One crepe was just not enough. Well it may have been enough, but I should have known myself better. If I'm eating a crepe I want it to be sweet. If I want ham and cheese I'll have it in sub on some fresh bread. I needed a banana nutellla one. Actually Kirsten was the one who wanted it, but it sounded like a good idea. So after two crepes we went to the Louvre. The Metro stop we got off at was inside of a really cool mall called Carousel that was connected to the Louvre. It had this amazing home goods store. Everything was really bright colors and unique designs. I have some pics of it. We took some pictures outside of the Louvre but didn't go in. We then walked to Notre Dame. One the way we walked right through some parade type protest. I got a cool video of it. No idea what they were protesting since I don't speak french, but they kept saying "Something something NO NO! Something something OUI OUI!!" I just love hearing them say oui oui (wee wee) because it sounds so funny. Stopped for post cards along the way and I saw one of Moulin Rouge, and realized this was in Paris and I wanted to see it. Kirsten tried to convince me it was far away, so I asked the lady who worked there. Turns out it was right by our hostel. Sweet! Saw Notre Dame. We were absolutely exhausted by this point. Took a quick walk through. Then we went to Moulin Rouge. The sign was lit up with a lit up windmill next to it. The rest of the street was lit up, however it was not as historical or pretty. It was filled with sex shops, strip clubs, and restaurants. We headed back to our hostel, and just sat. Couldn't move. After about 30 minutes of just sitting we walked to a bakery near by and got bread for dinner. Kirsten and I split a baguette and some raisin nut bread that was amazing. We bought cream cheese for it and I got an almond french macaroon. We went back and sat on one of the beds and ate our bread. So good. And the macaroon was AMAZINGGG.
I'm loving these weekends trips. While I feel like I don't get to spend much time in Sevilla, these trips are so fulfilling. And tiring, but worth it. By the time we're leaving I'm ready to go home. I feel like I've seen everything I wanted to and it's just really easy to do. I'm really excited for Morocco next weekend, and even more excited to show my Mom around Sevilla the next weekend!!
8/3/2012
Last night I went to sleep around 11, but couldn't fall asleep, so I took some nighttime cold medicine. I kept waking up so groggy and in a state of confusion. I woke up to senora telling me I had a package. Woke up to some Reese's, Cadbury Eggs, new shoes, new scarf, and cold medicine!! I was so excited for the candy, but at this point in my day I was more excited about the cold medicine, because I needed it! Went back to sleep for a bit, woke up at 10:30 and got ready for school. Went to teaching. I still can't get over how cute the little kids are. All of the 3-5 year old classes are out at recess when I get there, and even some students who aren't in my class come up and hug me. Little Blanca ran over and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, and another little boy who's not in my class always just hangs out by my side during the last few minutes of recess and keeps giving me hugs and saying "Hellllo!!". If little kids could behave themselves and had an attention span of more than two minutes, I would definitely teach them. Because high school kids are definitely gonna be tough. But anyways, we went into class. Today I had to sit and take notes because I need to write something for my teaching class. They played with big/little shapes again. Then the teacher put a big and small circle on the wall, and two at a time, they had to run and hit the big/small shape with a fly swatter. Then the teacher put four fish on the ground - two big, two small, that had magnetic strips on them. The kids took turns using a little fishing rod to catch a fish, and the teacher would ask if it were big or small. The kids have trouble with the word small, and usually pronounce it "malllll". Some of the kids ask me sometimes why I speak English. One of the little girls asked me today and I said, in Spanish, because I'm from the United States. She was like "Huh?!". Haha I really don't know how to explain that to them. All of the little girls are cute, but it seems that all the little boys are really difficult to deal with. They're all trouble, every single one of them.
martes, 6 de marzo de 2012
6/3/2012
Today wasn't very exciting. Woke up this morning and my throat was killing and I was exhausted. I got like 9 hours of sleep though, which is plenty. Went to teaching. Nothing out of the usual. Although they're not learning about the fish and the frog anymore.. finally! They've moved onto big and small. The teacher put out some shapes and said "This is big" "This is small" and then had the kids come up and they had to hand her something big/small depending on what she asked. It's so cute hearing the little kids say "Beeeeg" and "Esmalllll". Then they went to their tables and we handed out worksheets for them. The teacher had me go around and write their names on them. This is no easy task when all the kids are Spanish. Luckily there is a list on the wall that I can go look at if I need to. Today was easier because I had a Carla, Jesus, Blanca, Alicia.. but days when I'm dealing with Maksim (pronounced like Maxine), Inma.. (something long but they called her what sounds like Emma).. and other names that have accents and stuff. Anyways I went around and wrote their names on their papers. They had a paper with two cars on it, one big and one small. They were told to only color the big one. They then have to go show the teacher and it's weird - if it's not colored in completely, she makes them finish it. I just find this odd because they're three years old. It's impressive enough that they can color in the lines for the most part. But it's art, let them color it how they want! Anyways the teacher then writes BIG! on it, and they put it in their "plastic". Another strange thing I've noticed. They don't use folders here. They use plastic sheets for binders, but without the binders. And it's sort of dumb because three year-olds cannot put pieces of paper into sheets of plastic. The majority of them end up needing help. While they're coloring I just go around and say "Well done!" "Fantastic!", because I've noticed those are the words that the teacher uses. After this they did centers. Costumes, cutting, coloring, puzzles. Blanca, my fav, kept coming over to me and asking me to sit next to her. She is too cute I can't handle it! I just can't say no. But eventually I'm able to wander away and check on the other tables. It's seriously a problem though. I'm gonna play favorites so bad as a teacher. I'm sorry but there'll always just be kids that I like more! Blanca was cutting paper today, because that was what her table was doing. The teacher had given them each a sheet with straight lines. Blanca asked for another one, and then she wanted one with a heart to cut out. Then another one. And another one. I probably should've said no, you've have enough, but she's too cute! Those pigtails kill me. Then there was a little boy named Manuel, who was playing with the puzzles. He took two pieces of the puzzle that a little girl was playing with. She asked me to get them back. I tried, but of course he wasn't just going to hang them over. So I had to tickle him. Being extremely ticklish myself, I know, this is horrible. It's borderline torture. Well little Manuel was very ticklish and fell to the ground with laughter. I successfully pried the pieces out of his hands and gave them back to the little girl. But apparently Manuel thought it was fun, because he stole another piece. I gave up and let him keep it figuring that would be less fun, and went and hung out with Blanca. I still have my regrets about choosing to teach three year-olds, but I can't complain. Everyday when I walk in there and little kids are running at me and hugging me it's the best. They're so loving and so friggin adorable!! Well today two little girls kept slapping my bum, but normally it's just hugs. After they did centers they came to the rug and Elena read a book quickly before they left. Went home, ate bean stew for lunch, talked to senora for a bit about Barcelona, and then napped. I was so exhausted all day. I did nottttttt want to wake up from that nap. It was so hard. Although, impressively, I only set one alarm, and I hit snooze multiple times, and got up! This is rare. Had class. A preschool teacher came in and talked to us and I learned some new things from her. I'm tired and sick. That is all.
lunes, 5 de marzo de 2012
5/3/2012
Friday morning, I woke up at 7:30 and and met up with Sarah where we get the buses to the airport around 8. I have a serious problem with my alarm. At home I have my iHome across the room, and it goes off on radio as loud as possible (obnoxiously loud), so I have no choice but to get up. Well here, my phone alarm goes off right next to me, and in a state of confusion I just press the first button I see, which usually turns it off (as opposed to snooze). So I end up setting like 4 alarms, so I never know if another one is going to go off. Very confusing. It's also rough because my phone only charges when it is turned off. That means I can't charge it at night because it needs to be on for the alarm. Just annoying. Anyways, I thankfully got up in time. Took the bus to the airport. Everything went smoothly. The flight was with RyanAir, a really cheap airline, and it was really weird since it was so cheap. There was no where to sit at the gate and there were no assigned seats, so everyone stood there and waited in line. It was a big flight but the seats were really close together and there were advertisements everywhere. The flight attendants made various announcements trying to sell things throughout the flight. Loud announcements which I mostly slept through. Just really different. The flight was about two hours. Took a bus to some plaza where Sam met us. He took us back to his apartment to put our stuff down. The place is awesome. It has two big bedrooms downstairs and a little kitchen and bathroom, an open living room with a loft and another bedroom up above. It's really modern and cool. Has a porch too. On the loft they have four extra beds just chillin there. Pretty awesome and convenient. Nice not having to sleep on a couch or floor. Sam lives with two other guys from Bentley - so while it wasn't the neatest apartment, it was still awesome. Then Sam showed us the beach- 5 mins away. So cool. It was a really nice day. Windy, but warm. The beach was man-made to attract tourists. There were some cool sculptures along it. The strip along the beach had a bunch of cafes and bars. We went to a place called Woky Wok to get some teriyaki noodle stir fry with chicken and lettuce. Then we went to a cool building that had a wall along the ocean - so you're basically standing over the ocean- with a really nice view. We then went back to Sam's and one of his roommates, Greg, came with us to show us the city. We walked around some famous street called la Rambla. It was touristy, with lots of food places and shops. We got some amazing gelado. I got a chocolate covered cone with "Bon bon" (basically nutella-flavored), galleta (short bread cookie), and cafe (coffee). Delicious. Sarah and I had told they guys we wanted to go to a market, and they had no idea where to find one. But on la Rambla, we passed a huge one, so we went in. Well it wasn't huge, but you could buy anything imaginable freshly made. You'll have to look at the pics when I put them up. It was outdoor but had a canopy over it. They had fresh everything. Meat, fish, fruit, candy, chocolate, juices, pastries, vegetables, oils. Just insane. So many colors. They had full dead bodies of pigs, creepy-looking seafood. We had just gotten gelato that was amazing so I didn't buy anything though. We continued walking and saw some cool buildings. A lot of interesting architecture here by some guy named Gaudi. The city is very modern and European-like, not so much Spanish. Also, they speak Catalan here, which, from looking at it, is a mix of French and Spanish. It's really weird it's like they took a lot of words and just combined them. Everywhere you go they speak Spanish too though. So then we came back and napped until 10, by accident, because no one set an alarm. We were all surprised when we woke up so late. We got ready and drank a little at Sam's. Then went to a bar called Chuptios, which means shots. They had a huge wall full of names of shots and they're all crazy. We got a willy wonka which was chocolate booze with whipped cream on it and a chocolate on top. A lot of them were set on fire and stuff. Then we went to a discoteca that was three stories - each floor had two rooms different types of music which was awesome. Sarah and I went off and danced and then found Sam. We danced til 430ish then took a cab home. It was SO nice to have a kitchen to go back to. I was starving, and luckily the boys had a stock pile of good food. I made three batches of nachos for Sarah and I. Used a whole thing of salsa, bag of cheese, and bag of chips. We were realllly hungry and realllly excited to be able to cook. We started watching Zoolander but Sarah and I fell asleep. Saturday Sarah and I woke up at 1 and went to see la Sagrada Familia. It's a church built by Gaudi, but he died while it was being made in the 1920s. It's been being built ever since. Therefore, it was not as cool because there was construction stuff all over it. It was still cool to see though. It was interesting because the back side was clearly the original part - you could see the clear difference in design, and that it was weathered. The newer part had some really cool designs - colorful fruit, lizards. It was interesting. Then we walked around to see more cool buildings. There is a lot of architecture by Gaudi, whose stuff is just so unique. We stopped and got sandwiches at a place called Pans &co, it's like a cross between Subway and Panera. We shared a grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese on baguette and some mozzarella sticks. We then went to that market again and I got fresh mango coconut juice. It was really thick and delicious. Ventured back to Sam's. Hung out for a bit, then took a nap. You think we would've learned the afternoon before when we were unpleasently surprised by how late we napped, but we didn't do much better Saturday - woke up at 9:15. Got ready, started drinking. Some of their friends came over - they were all really nice and a lot of fun. Some of them they've met here, but most are from Bentley. Some of the girls are studying in Milan and they were there visiting. Around 1:30 we went to a discoteca along the beach. It was a lot of fun. We went home pretty early, around 3:45. I was starrvvingggg. I had used all of the tortilla chips the night before, so tonight when I went to make nachos I made them on melba toast. And I added cream cheese this time. Not the best, but I was so hungry. Some of Sam's friends that we had split off from came back, and we watched Heavy Weights. I've seen it before, but as my memory is awful, didn't remember any of it. It seemed funny, but Sam and another of his friends were literally screaming laughing throughout the entire thing, so I missed a lot of what was going on. Went to bed around 7. Sunday was a lazy day. Sarah went to the Picaso museum, which I probably should have. But instead I hung out with Sam and his roommate Zack, and watched TV all day. Whatever, I enjoyed it. Around 8 Sarah and I went to see some cool building that we'd seen pictures of everywhere that's shaped like a bullet and lit up really pretty. We walked through one of the popular parks, saw the Arc de Triumph, and then found the building and took pictures. We did really well navigating the city, although I can't take much credit as it was mostly Sarah. All in all, awesome weekend. Barcelona is definitely more for the students who study abroad to party, and while it was really pretty and a lot of fun, I'm glad I'm in Sevilla. It seems so little now. Plus Sevilla is, what a lot of people in Barcelona kept saying, "Spain, Spain". It's the real thing - little streets, lots of history, flamenco, bull fighting, and sunny. It was also really nice to see a friend from home. So in case you all don't know.. here's my itinerary for the rest of my time here.
*Weekend of March 9th-11th: Paris
*Week of March 12th: Midterms! Already!!!! Gross.
*Weekend of March 16th-18th: Morrocco with the teaching development group. Going to observe schools and ride camels! And word is that we're staying with families there..hmm
*Weekend of March 23rd-25th: Mom and Mark coming to visit! Going to Granada and either Huelva or Malaga?
*Weekend of March 30th-April 1st: Austria with Mom and Mark
*April 1st - 3rd : London
*April 3rd - 6th : Dublin
*April 7th & 8th: End of Semana Santa / Easter
*Weekend of April 14th - 15th: Cadiz for the night
*April 20th & 21st: Venice
*April 22nd & 23rd: Rome
*April 24th & 25th: Istanbul
*April 26th & 27th: Brussels
*April 28th & 29th: Last 2 days of Feria de Abril in Sevilla
*May 10th : Finals
*May 11th : Home!
..needless to say it's going to fly! It already has and my schedule has not been this packed.. Only have one more weekend in Sevilla!
*Weekend of March 9th-11th: Paris
*Week of March 12th: Midterms! Already!!!! Gross.
*Weekend of March 16th-18th: Morrocco with the teaching development group. Going to observe schools and ride camels! And word is that we're staying with families there..hmm
*Weekend of March 23rd-25th: Mom and Mark coming to visit! Going to Granada and either Huelva or Malaga?
*Weekend of March 30th-April 1st: Austria with Mom and Mark
*April 1st - 3rd : London
*April 3rd - 6th : Dublin
*April 7th & 8th: End of Semana Santa / Easter
*Weekend of April 14th - 15th: Cadiz for the night
*April 20th & 21st: Venice
*April 22nd & 23rd: Rome
*April 24th & 25th: Istanbul
*April 26th & 27th: Brussels
*April 28th & 29th: Last 2 days of Feria de Abril in Sevilla
*May 10th : Finals
*May 11th : Home!
..needless to say it's going to fly! It already has and my schedule has not been this packed.. Only have one more weekend in Sevilla!
28/2/12
Well the inevitable happened and I'm finally sick. Everyone here is sick! My students, classmates, senora. I knew it was gonna happen. And then, if you remember, last Tuesday the cute little boy with the big blue eyes was following me around while he had a fever. Two days later I have a fever. Coincidence? I don't think so! I don't know how teachers stay healthy. Well anyways, Thursday I woke up with a little tickle in my throat and I just knew. I went to the school for my teaching. Elena told me she couldn't meet up Friday because she forgot that it's Andalucia week - or something like that. I know we don't have class Tuesday for some Andalucian holiday but I don't know the details. Anyways it wasn't a very eventful day. One Thursdays the kids go out for recess a half hour, out of the two hours that I'm there. It's kind of a waste of time for me but I get a chance to talk to the other teachers while they're out there and practice my Spanish. It's nice they'll point to something or reference something and ask me how to say it in English - and then I'll ask them how to say it in Spanish. Just at recess the other day I learned..
"lasso" = bow
"coleta"= ponytail
"cojer" = to catch (as in playing tag at recess)
It's definitely helpful. So I was feeling okay, came home, and took a nap. Well when I woke up I felt worse. By my second class at 8, I felt horrible. I saw there bundled up with chills the whole time looking pretty pathetic. Told senora I was sick when I got home so she made me some soup and gave me some medicine to help with my fever. Relaxed the rest of the night. Friday I felt horrible. I stayed in bed all day. Senora took good care of me. Made me soup. The next day I wasn't feeling better so senora and her boyfriend brought me to the doctors. Thankfully he has a car so I didn't have to walk. Senora held my arm the whole time we were walking and they waited with me at the doctors - for almost two hours! Then when I went in senora came in and helped me.. because I learned the "sick" vocab (chills, fever, cough, etc) freshman year of high school and I don't remember all of it. I got prescribed an antibiotic. Laid in bed until Tuesday when I finally ventured out to the plaza de espana and to get frozen yogurt with Kirsten.
"lasso" = bow
"coleta"= ponytail
"cojer" = to catch (as in playing tag at recess)
It's definitely helpful. So I was feeling okay, came home, and took a nap. Well when I woke up I felt worse. By my second class at 8, I felt horrible. I saw there bundled up with chills the whole time looking pretty pathetic. Told senora I was sick when I got home so she made me some soup and gave me some medicine to help with my fever. Relaxed the rest of the night. Friday I felt horrible. I stayed in bed all day. Senora took good care of me. Made me soup. The next day I wasn't feeling better so senora and her boyfriend brought me to the doctors. Thankfully he has a car so I didn't have to walk. Senora held my arm the whole time we were walking and they waited with me at the doctors - for almost two hours! Then when I went in senora came in and helped me.. because I learned the "sick" vocab (chills, fever, cough, etc) freshman year of high school and I don't remember all of it. I got prescribed an antibiotic. Laid in bed until Tuesday when I finally ventured out to the plaza de espana and to get frozen yogurt with Kirsten.
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