Today I got to the school and all of the little kids asked
me “¿Tu profe viene hoy? ¿Dónde está tu profe?”. They wanted to know where my teacher was and
when he was coming. Apparently Ana had
told them to behave because my teacher was coming to observe. Little Jesús is the cutest. He kept looking for him and asking me where
he was. We went into class, they
relaxed, and did the hello monkey song.
For some reason they´re not as enthusiastic about kissing the monkey
anymore. Maybe they´ve realized that
monkey gets around and that´s how germs are spread!!! Santi was my helper and
he is horrible at English. He didn´t say
anything. I hung up four different
colored flowers around the room and said “Run to the .. flower”. They all loved it and they know their colors
very well. They were trampling on top of
each other, but at least they were doing what I asked of them. I knew my teacher was coming to observe today
so I tried to line up the activities so that she saw the better ones. Ana told me they had to do a work sheet where
they color a rabbit and then glue cotton onto the tail. I hate when they do worksheets because they
run around the room recklessly after. I
did this right after because I didn´t want my teacher to be there for it. But of course once I started, she came in to
tape me. (My actual teacher didn´t come
because he has class, but the director of TDP came and taped me). The little kids colored the rabbit, which
took them a while, and then came up to me and I put glue on the tail and they
put the cotton on. What a horrible
activity – such a mess. Luckily the kids
who finished first behaved well, which is really rare. After they finished I tried to re-start the
game where they run to the flowers, but they were not paying attention this
time, of course. Half were sitting down
and wouldn´t move. Then I played a game
where they had to run around a table and hit either a blue or red flower on the
wall. They all loved this and did it
well. After they did centers- costumes,
puzzles, cutting, drawing, or blocks. I
still never really know what to do during this time. I read Alicia a book while Blanca combed my
hair in her little Princess dress. The
costumes are so cute. Santi dressed up
like Spiderman and Jesus was dressed like a witch. Haha they´re adorable. I can´t believe I only have two more classes
with them! So sad. I´m gonna hate saying
bye to them. It´s crazy I only have
three more of each of my real classes and then finals. And in three days I go to Venice, Rome,
Istanbul, and Brussels! Then we have
Monday and Tuesday off that week. Not
much time left here. Kirsten and I are
going tomorrow to buy tickets to a bullfight, hopefully for next Sunday, and
we´re hoping to make it to a soccer game before we leave as well. I have been getting out more and seeing more
of the city. I go for a three and a half
mile run every night. I pass the river
right when the sun´s setting and it´s beautiful.
martes, 17 de abril de 2012
miércoles, 11 de abril de 2012
11/4/2012
Today had cooking class. We went to a market and looked at all the food. Apparently there's a market under the cetas, right next to the yogurt place. There were dead bunnies, fur and all, in one of the showcases. Gross. There were also snails that entertained me for a while. I'd never really seen them out of their shells with the little antenna things. Pretty cool. Then Michelle and I sat on the stairs of the cetas for a while, tanned a bit, and chatted. Kirsten met up with us and we went to Cien Montaditos for lunch. Cien Montaditos is a place that has cien (one hundred) montaditos (little sandwiches) to choose from. They also have salads, beer and wine. One Wednesdays everything is 1 euro, except the salads, which are 2 euro. So we met up with Kirsten and went there. I got a chorizo, ali oli, and crusted onions. I also got a veggie one and a salad. While we were eating Michelle asked what Bershka was.. and well, it just happens to be my favorite store here, maybe even ever. So I had to show her! And turned out I just happened to have brought shopping money with me. So I bought two new dresses and a few new shirts. Totally necessary. Then we went to Las Rayas, the famous ice cream place in Sevilla. I got pistachio and a chocolate hazelnut. The combo was perfection maybe the best ice cream.. okay well not ever, I can't go that far. It was really good though. Came back, did homework, then went to flamenco class. We watched a movie. I did what I always do during movies, fall asleep. The teacher caught me about 30 minutes in. I fought off sleep for the last hour of class. I went for a run after. It's so nice running here. I used to hate running outside but I've had to do it here since I'm not a gym member. Maybe it's because the city is so pretty but I love it. And I'm able to fun farther and I feel great. After the run I met up with Kimby and Nicole at Cien Montaditos. Just can't get enough of this place. I got a jar of wine and a salad. It was a great day but not very eventful.
martes, 10 de abril de 2012
10/4/2012
Okay, I know I'm behind and some of you (Mom) are eager for me to catch up. But for now here's my day today..
Woke up at 7:30 so I could go to the high school to volunteer. I was going to shower the night before but senora told me I couldn't because her brother had patched it up and I couldn't use it til the morning. Of course this was right after I went for a run. But anyways, by the time I showered and got ready, I was going to be late. The last two times I went to the high school I was on time and they kept me waiting around for an hour. So this time I saw screw it and I went back to sleep. Felt so good. I set my alarm and tried to wake up for the second class, but I need my sleep! So I got up and went to teaching. I hadn't seen the kids since before Semana Santa, so I seemed to get more hugs than usual from all of the children. Blanca's still my favorite though because she's always the one who yells "Teacher Danielle!", in her cute little Spanish accent, and runs up and hugs me. Some of the others say teacher Danielle, but I'm partial to the pigtails since I used to wear them myself. Anyways, everything was going great when little Marta came up to me and rubbed my belly. Now, it's sometimes hard to understand what the little kids are saying, but I'm almost positive she said "Tienes un bebé?". Okay, I won't lie, she did say that. I'm just trying to make myself feel better because no, I don't have a baby in my belly! Here I am eating healthier and going running, thinking I'm skinnier, but apparently I look pregnant! I told my friends because I knew they'd think it was hilarious because we joke about our food babies all the time. Nicole, who has experience working in preschools, said that kids get confused a lot and maybe her mom is pregnant so she thinks other girls have babies in their bellies. Sure, I'll go with that. Coral came up to me and grabbed my hand and Blanca grabbed my other hand. Then Alicia grabbed the same hand as Blanca, and they started fighting over it. I tried to get them to get into line but they over power me. They would not let go. Especially Coral who begins to cry when I let go. We got into class and they put their heads down as usual. Marta, who is hilarious and really cute (but also called me fat) was the helper today, so she went around and made sure everyone was putting their head down. Well I walked by her at one point and saw her shoving her classmates heads into the desks and going "Shhhh". Haha she's cute so I just kinda turned the other way. At least she was doing her job. Then the usual sticker debacle ensued with Coral. After everyone kissed the monkey and I put on a song called "Springtime" for them to dance and singalong to. Well something happened between Paula and Reyes. They were shoving each other and Paula started crying, and next thing I know Reyes is being dragged out and yelled at again. So I played the song two more times to distract the other kids. When it came time to ask what the weather was like, Marta said sunny, but the rest of the class struggled because they still don't understand that it's spring, and it was also their first time learning the month April. I started off today by review the color flashcards. They all shouted "bluuuuuuue!" "rrredddd!"..etc, very loudly. They know their colors very well. Then I had flower flashcards that I made, five of different colors. I had them bring them up to me and give me five when they got it write. They all love that. They all sit there and yell "Me! Me! Me! Me!" because they want a turn. And then there's little Blanca who says, in the sweetest little voice, "Teacher Danielle!! Teacher Danielle!!" Today I tried not to call on her right away but she's too cute! I can't help it. I know who won't be getting called on though. Little Marta. No more. You don't call the teacher fat and then get called on!! I had them color a flower after and it took up a decent amount of time which was nice. I had them color the flower blue, the stem green, and the inside yellow. Everyone's flower was colored correctly, with a few minor mistakes that had been fixed. With the exception of two. Alvaro never colors. He'll draw a few scribbles then go stand by the computer and stare at it because it's playing music. He's an odd child. And Blanca. She colored the center of her flower orange. I tried telling her multiple times, but she colored it orange anyways. The teacher says she's really lazy when it comes to drawing. Whenever they're coloring she brings hers up half done and never wants to finish it. And when she did finish it she kept asking me to cut out hearts. They have a cutting activity that they do sometimes where they just cut lines on paper and there's a sheet with a heart on it. She kept asking me to get her scissors and grabbed my hand and pulled me to where they were. She knows she's my favorite and it's getting tough. So after they colored I had them color again. Apparently there was some confusion with what Ana had sent me to do for class today and there was something in their book they needed to color. So they colored two more flowers and then had to put stickers on them. Bad idea giving them a sheet of stickers because the paper ended up all over the floor in little pieces, with the sticky background stuck allover me and Ana. They kids kept running up to me and I caught on to what they were doing but Ana must not have. When we were leaving I noticed little pieces of stickers all over her back. They're little devils, seriously. Afterwards I read a book, and surprisingly was able to keep their attention. It was mostly in Spanish but whatever, they were behaving. At the end of class Blanca looked really sad so I asked her what was wrong. She hugged me and started crying. It was so sad!! Apparently Ana told her she wasn't getting a star today because she talked to much. How mean!! How could she do that to Blanca?! I let her sit on my lap and played with her hair so she'd stop crying. But then Marta wanted some attention so she kind of started crying and sat on me too. Oh no you don't! Not after you called me fat Marta! But she is cute so I played with her hair too. She's not forgiven yet though!! After teaching had lunch with senora. Potatoes and artichoke stew thing.. soo good. And some gazpacho. No bread though because senora and I are on a strict diet! We'll see how it goes..
Woke up at 7:30 so I could go to the high school to volunteer. I was going to shower the night before but senora told me I couldn't because her brother had patched it up and I couldn't use it til the morning. Of course this was right after I went for a run. But anyways, by the time I showered and got ready, I was going to be late. The last two times I went to the high school I was on time and they kept me waiting around for an hour. So this time I saw screw it and I went back to sleep. Felt so good. I set my alarm and tried to wake up for the second class, but I need my sleep! So I got up and went to teaching. I hadn't seen the kids since before Semana Santa, so I seemed to get more hugs than usual from all of the children. Blanca's still my favorite though because she's always the one who yells "Teacher Danielle!", in her cute little Spanish accent, and runs up and hugs me. Some of the others say teacher Danielle, but I'm partial to the pigtails since I used to wear them myself. Anyways, everything was going great when little Marta came up to me and rubbed my belly. Now, it's sometimes hard to understand what the little kids are saying, but I'm almost positive she said "Tienes un bebé?". Okay, I won't lie, she did say that. I'm just trying to make myself feel better because no, I don't have a baby in my belly! Here I am eating healthier and going running, thinking I'm skinnier, but apparently I look pregnant! I told my friends because I knew they'd think it was hilarious because we joke about our food babies all the time. Nicole, who has experience working in preschools, said that kids get confused a lot and maybe her mom is pregnant so she thinks other girls have babies in their bellies. Sure, I'll go with that. Coral came up to me and grabbed my hand and Blanca grabbed my other hand. Then Alicia grabbed the same hand as Blanca, and they started fighting over it. I tried to get them to get into line but they over power me. They would not let go. Especially Coral who begins to cry when I let go. We got into class and they put their heads down as usual. Marta, who is hilarious and really cute (but also called me fat) was the helper today, so she went around and made sure everyone was putting their head down. Well I walked by her at one point and saw her shoving her classmates heads into the desks and going "Shhhh". Haha she's cute so I just kinda turned the other way. At least she was doing her job. Then the usual sticker debacle ensued with Coral. After everyone kissed the monkey and I put on a song called "Springtime" for them to dance and singalong to. Well something happened between Paula and Reyes. They were shoving each other and Paula started crying, and next thing I know Reyes is being dragged out and yelled at again. So I played the song two more times to distract the other kids. When it came time to ask what the weather was like, Marta said sunny, but the rest of the class struggled because they still don't understand that it's spring, and it was also their first time learning the month April. I started off today by review the color flashcards. They all shouted "bluuuuuuue!" "rrredddd!"..etc, very loudly. They know their colors very well. Then I had flower flashcards that I made, five of different colors. I had them bring them up to me and give me five when they got it write. They all love that. They all sit there and yell "Me! Me! Me! Me!" because they want a turn. And then there's little Blanca who says, in the sweetest little voice, "Teacher Danielle!! Teacher Danielle!!" Today I tried not to call on her right away but she's too cute! I can't help it. I know who won't be getting called on though. Little Marta. No more. You don't call the teacher fat and then get called on!! I had them color a flower after and it took up a decent amount of time which was nice. I had them color the flower blue, the stem green, and the inside yellow. Everyone's flower was colored correctly, with a few minor mistakes that had been fixed. With the exception of two. Alvaro never colors. He'll draw a few scribbles then go stand by the computer and stare at it because it's playing music. He's an odd child. And Blanca. She colored the center of her flower orange. I tried telling her multiple times, but she colored it orange anyways. The teacher says she's really lazy when it comes to drawing. Whenever they're coloring she brings hers up half done and never wants to finish it. And when she did finish it she kept asking me to cut out hearts. They have a cutting activity that they do sometimes where they just cut lines on paper and there's a sheet with a heart on it. She kept asking me to get her scissors and grabbed my hand and pulled me to where they were. She knows she's my favorite and it's getting tough. So after they colored I had them color again. Apparently there was some confusion with what Ana had sent me to do for class today and there was something in their book they needed to color. So they colored two more flowers and then had to put stickers on them. Bad idea giving them a sheet of stickers because the paper ended up all over the floor in little pieces, with the sticky background stuck allover me and Ana. They kids kept running up to me and I caught on to what they were doing but Ana must not have. When we were leaving I noticed little pieces of stickers all over her back. They're little devils, seriously. Afterwards I read a book, and surprisingly was able to keep their attention. It was mostly in Spanish but whatever, they were behaving. At the end of class Blanca looked really sad so I asked her what was wrong. She hugged me and started crying. It was so sad!! Apparently Ana told her she wasn't getting a star today because she talked to much. How mean!! How could she do that to Blanca?! I let her sit on my lap and played with her hair so she'd stop crying. But then Marta wanted some attention so she kind of started crying and sat on me too. Oh no you don't! Not after you called me fat Marta! But she is cute so I played with her hair too. She's not forgiven yet though!! After teaching had lunch with senora. Potatoes and artichoke stew thing.. soo good. And some gazpacho. No bread though because senora and I are on a strict diet! We'll see how it goes..
Dublin
Arrived in Dublin Wednesday morning. It was hard saying goodbye to London. Such a great place. Had a Ryanair flight that was pretty short. When we got off the plane we were warned to be careful getting off the plane because it was so windy. No exaggeration I almost got blown back into the plane getting off of it. Dublin was freezing cold and windy. Immediate hate. Found our way out and some guy at the airport helped up find the bus we needed. He was really nice and helpful. Got to the hostel but it wasn't ready yet so we went to the Dublin castle. It was reallly cold out. The city is really pretty though. Its really fun hearing all of accents. Some people it's barely noticeable others have really thick accents. And the saying they use here are so funny. There's a hilarious old man that works at the front desk. He's short and has pointy ears. He has the strangest sayings including "I wouldn't trust that fucker as far as I can throw a baby elephant". He's very entertaining. Anyways we went to the Dublin castle since it is free the first Wednesday of every month. The free tours were full so we walked around. We snuck into one of the tours and thought we were so slick until the guy said "so for our last stop..". A little too late. We went back to the hostel and took a much needed nap. We went to the grocery store and bought stuff to make burritos. It was overly exciting having a kitchen to use. We made burritos with beans, avocado, salsa, cheese, pepper, lemon, and lettuce. They were delicious. Then we starting drinking downstairs in the kitchen area. We decided to do an experiment to see who would get drunker if we all drank the same. I knew who'd be losing that one. It actually didn't turn out fair because just like how my friends always finish my "Danielle droppings" whenever we eat (because I pick apart my food and don't finish it) they do the same with my booze. It was still fairly even. Anyways, we just hung out being loud and obnoxious Americans and making each other laugh. We also made a pact that if any two of us fail at life after we graduate (aka don't get a job) we're all going to work in that hostel in London together. We ventured out into Dublin really drunk after having split a bottle of vodka. We stopped in a little bar and listened to music for a few minutes. Then made a stop at the grocery store for chips. I got salt and vinegar chips I guess, Nicole got a chocolate mint lamb, and Sarah just begged the cashier to give her the Cadbury egg for free because it was already open. Didn't work. We headed towards some area called temple bar that's supposed to be fun. Well we'll never know because we were drunkenly navigating our way. As we headed towards the main street we saw a building that said "COME STOP IN!" lit up in huge red writing on the side. Well okay! So we went in and it turned out to be a casino. A sketchy casino where the Irish mob was chillin. So we went and peed and for some reason took lots of pictures. Then we kept walking. We stopped in a bar and got pints of hard cider and made friends with the bartender, Lennie. He was a really silly looking Irishman. I've gotta say Irish people are not attractive. The teeth on these people!! They're so bad. And the pointy ears and saggy faces - creepy. They're all nice though. I've also seen two little people here. That's two more than I've seen in the rest of Europe. I definitely believe in leprechauns. Anyways we left there and passed a strip of food places with McDonald, Burger King, and Quiznos!!!! Love Quiznos. So we walked in the door and out the other, through every single place. Just admiring. We stopped at another bar to pee. It was filled with weird biker people and was really creepy. Nicole wrote our names on the wall for some reason, and we fought over who's was bolder. Also took lots of pictures in this bathroom for some reason. I found a broom and rode it around like a witch while Sarah peed. All in the little bathroom. We then went to a real Irish pub with live irish music and everything! It was so cool. So cultural of us. To continue the cultural experience we say down and got some Guinness. Well we sat in the corner dying, and Sarah talked to some guys who bought us all Guinness. I don't even think they speak English and Nicole and I didn't say a word to them. But okay. I didn't think I liked Guinness but this was like a delicious foamy fountain of dark chocolate and coffee in my mouth. We were just kinda chillin listening to the music for a while. Nicole at some point gave me French braids. I was fighting off attacks of hiccups that kept coming. Nothing was working, when all of a sudden I heard the first three notes of the YMCA! The music just hit me and I had no choice but to get up and dance. I dont think anyone else was dancing but I didnt care. And, the dancing cured my hiccups! They kept rolling out the hits so I continued dancing. Nicole and I were taking swigs of hot sauce- I'd really missed it. Sarah was being stealthy and making a plan of escape to get away from the guys who ordered us drinks. I'm pretty sure they're plan was to pay, if they hadn't already. But she ended up shooing us out of the bar anyways. Right in front of us when we got outside was a food place. We really had no choice since it was right there. Sarah and I split garlic cheese fries.. From heaven. They were incredible. We ate them like savages then headed back to our hostel. Peed on the street pretty much in plain sight. We should probably check out the laws about peeing on streets in different countries before we go drinking there because if they're anything like America's well, that's not good. We got back to the hostel and headed to our room. For some reason we stopped on the stairs. I have no idea exactly what we were doing, but we were leaning on each other rambling things and sliding down the stairs. We didn't remember exactly what was going on but after further review of the video Nicole took, I have absolutely no idea. All I know is we were huge messes. Also that Sarah won. She was the drunkest. The next day we got off to a slow start. Ate breakfast at the hostel. It was very impressive. They had toast and cereal but also yogurt, fruit and hard boiled eggs. Exciting. We laid back down after and struggled getting up. We finally did and headed to the Guinness factory. We had bundled up so much that we actually got hot. So even though it was freezing it was bearable. Te Guinness factory was really cool. There are seven floors. The first shows you what actually goes into the beer. It's set up really cool. There was a big pool of barley, a waterfall, hops hanging down the wall, and it explained everything as you went along. Throughout the other floors it showed the oldest bottles of Guinness that they've found, old commercials, advertisements, etc. After we went up top to the gravity bar which has windows all around and there's a really pretty view of the city. Got our complementary guinnesses and hung out there for a while. After we stopped at a little restaurant and got food. I got a veggie burger that was really good and some fries. Hadnt had a veggie burger in so long. After we walked around and went to see St. Patrick's cathedral. You could only see the inside if you were attending mass, so we did. Can't even remember the last time I went to church. The inside was really pretty and it was interesting to see mass. Religion is strange to me. I believe in God but the whole process of church just seems weird to me. When we went up to get communion you kneel on the altar and the priest brings it to you. Sarah has never been to this kind of church and didn't know what to do. She was kneeling next to me and the priest went to her first. She didn't know what to do so she grabbed the communion from his hands. I started cracking up right when the priest was standing in front of me. Needless to he didn't love that. Church was about an hour long and then we headed back to the hostel. Made burritos for dinner again and just hung out. Friday we booked a trip to Wicklow so we could see real Ireland - the countryside. It was a perfect tour. We left at 945 and got back a little after 5. The older lady running the tour was like an Irish fairy god mother. She was so sweet and really funny. We drove along admiring the country side and she'd chime in with comments every once in a while. We stopped about four times to take pictures and hang out. We saw an old cemetery that was cool and went to a weaving mill. Saw little lambs that we're sooo cute! And saw where PS I Love You was shot. That's what I wanted when I came to Ireland. We stopped and got food at a grocery store. I got a tuna sandwich that was delicious. We've been eating really cheap and I've been totally satisfied with it all. Went back, hung out, packed, and went to bed. Ireland wasn't as eventful but it was hard because A. we were exhausted and B. it was good Friday so no where served alcohol from 12am-12am on Friday. That means no bars Thursday night and our flight Saturday was at 640 - woke up at 330, so no drinking that night either.
jueves, 5 de abril de 2012
London
Left my parents in London. The line for customs was ridiculously long. So many asians! I played monkey flight.. Beat all the levels!!! Anyways, the line was about an hour. Then took the underground towards London bridge, near where our hostel was. Took a while as well but it was really cool. It was colorful and really little. Got out, found my way pretty easily to the hostel. The guy at the front desk gave me a white key card and was like "your room is on the first floor, door on the left". So of course I got lost. Went up three floors, called down to the desk and they sent me to a room that wasn't mine. Left my stuff with some girl in there and went down to figure it out. Found my room. I was confused because I didn't get assigned a bed and everyone else had. Some kid in there asked me if I was confused and I told him I was looking for my friends but apparently they were not there. Great. No idea how I would find them. Then Nicole pops up from a deep sleep over in the corner and says hey! So thankfully I found them pretty easily. The room we were in had 22 people. Didn't look as bad as I had imagined. Just a big room full of bunk beds. You get a metal crate underneath to put your stuff. The room was actually pretty spacious. Met a couple from Madrid and two girls sleeping underneath us were studying abroad in Sevilla too. We walked around the hostel and checked it out. It was fucking sweet. Main lobby with computers, then a bar, a downstairs bar, the "chill out" room, a movie theater room, a roof deck. And everyone you walk by is friendly and says hi. We went across the street and got some food at the grocery store. I got this amazing noodle dish with ginger garlic dressing and carrots and stuff. So good. Went and hung out in the chill room and drank some vodka lemonades. We got really drunk, just the three of us, sitting there cracking up about stupid stuff. It was fun. We then decided to try and find some bar. We took a taxi there. First of all, it is realllly hard not to get hit by a car in London. I know I was always taught to look both ways, but I'm used to just looking where the cars are coming from. Well obviously here they come from the opposite way. Not safe. It's weird because it didn't even look weird to me unless I thought about it. What did look weird was seeing drivers sitting on the right side of the car. I laughed for about ten minutes in the taxi because I couldn't see the driver I could only see the empty seat on the left side. It just looked so funny! Well anyways, we took a taxi to soho. When we went to get out I freaked out because I had lost my phone. Turned out to be in my back pocket. Got out and walked around. We were partly looking for the bar partly just dancing in the streets and practicing rolling our r's. Fast forward 30 minutes and we realize everything is closed. We ended up down some side street and some guys standing by a building ask us if we need a taxi. We proceed to ask them how much and talk it over with them. The strange russian guy asked us how much we wanted to pay. Then the creepy Indian guy was like 10 pounds we'll drive you. As I was thinking it over Nicole called the guy out on the taxi being an unmarked black van. It was like a horror movie. I looked at the van in horror, then at the guys face as he was laughing like a villain and lighting and thunder were striking in the background. Nicole had saved my life. (Okay this part may be slightly exaggerated, but seriously wtf.. Creepy). We did find a real cab. So we basically paid for two cabs just to go walk around some streets for a bit and go back home. When we got back we went to the chill room. There was a brazilian kid playing guitar and a Spanish kid with him. We started talking to the Spanish kid because we need all the practice we can get. There were probably other people in the room but I didn't pay attention to them because I was too preoccupied with showing off my superb Spanish speaking, which I feel much better at when I'm drunk. Next thing I know we're having a song along with the Brazilian kid playing the guitar. Sang some sweet 90s songs. Somehow I ended up with a percussion egg playing the drums. Everyone was impressed by my skills. Didn't know you could be so good at egg shaking but I really rocked it. Ended up being a really fun night. Went to bed around 430. The next day we had breakfast in the bar of the hostel. Cereal and toast, typical breakfast of hostels. We took the underground to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. There were a ton of people waiting outside. We saw the new guards march in, the old ones march out. The palace was surprisingly unimpressive. Wasn't very pretty. We walked through a beautiful park and headed towards the river. We saw Big Ben and some other cool buildings. I love London because I've seen it in so many pictures and movies so it was really cool seeing it in real life. Got some pictures in telephone booths like typical tourists. We got some lunch at a grocery store. All of the grocery stores have cheap meal deals with a sandwich, drink, and a snack. I got a chicken salad sandwich with mango and a drink. We sat in a really pretty little park across from the river and ate. Then we napped. Glad my friends share the love of napping like a homeless person in a park. It was a solid nap. We then did the London eye. It's a huge ferris wheel-two ferris wheels in two days. Before you go in you watch a 4d experience thing. It's so cool it was a bird flying to different counties and seeing different cultures. The ferris wheel was cool too, seeing the whole city. We went and hung out in a cafe for a bit then headed back to the hostel. We stopped and got food. Sarah and Nicole got fish and chips and I got a falafel wrap. Really good. We went back to the hotel and started pregaming with our 3 pound (as in the money) bottle of wine. We were pretty dead. So exhausted. We almost called it quits- on karaoke night! But I couldn't let that happen. The world needed to hear my beautiful gift. Two Canadian kids say down near us and we started talking. They were studying abroad in Vienna. So we talked about that and Canadian accents and stuff and how everyone hates Americans. Apparently people will ask them where they're from and when they say Canada people breathe a sigh of relief and say how they hate Americans. Then the Brazilian kid and some girls we had met the night before started a game of kings. It was a lot of fun. It was nice preparation for karaoke. By the time we entered the bar I had acquired an uncle Sam hat and an American flag ruta the brazilian kid who works at the hostel had gone to the bar downstairs and gotten. I was so ready. Sarah the Brazilian and I sang wonder wall as a warm up. Spent the rest of the time dancing around looking like a foolish American with my flag and hat and listening to the real singers show off on stage. Whatever I was good too. Sarah and I sang I love Rock n roll - Britney Spears style. Everything was going great - the crowd was lovin it and we were in perfect harmony dancing along with the song. However, in retrospect it was more that Sarah had me in a chokehold and we were rocking back and forth. Mid song the dj shut it off!!! He was a jerk first of all. He got mad at me twice because I went over and asked him when we were up with a drink in my hand. I was holding it perfectly fine! Or maybe not but either way I wasnt gonna spill it. He was just mad that everyone loved us. Sarah stepped down in defeat, but I couldn't disappoint the fans like that. So I continuted in acapella. It was actually quite beautiful. Allowed me to really showcase my voice without the recording drowning me out. Thanks to the cheers of the crowd, or maybe he just realized I wasn't gonna quit, the dj turned it back on. Back at the beginning! Didn't phase us. Sarah jumped back up and we sang it again. It was a stellar performance and don't worry there are videos. So that sums up our night. Probably the most fun I've had in Europe so far. The next day we were dead. Unfortunately in a hostel with 22 people per room, when one person wakes up, everyone wakes up. So we were up and at breakfast by 930. We dragged around getting ready til 1130 then went to the London Dungeon. The line was so long so we went to get food. I got a chicken chorizo and chipotle mayo sandwich. It was good but could've been better. I had a mini panic attack because I thought I lost my cellphone. Sarah and Nicole got in the London dungeon line. I went back to the hostel to get our umbrellas as it looked like it was going to rain, find my phone, and figure out where Ben and Jerry's was as it was free cone day. My phone was on my bed of course. Thank god. On my way back to the dungeon it started pouring. We stood in line for maybe an hour. So the Dungeon tells the history of London's creepy stories. We learned about the plague, Jack the Ripper, Bloody Mary, Sweeney Todd, the London Fire. You enter one room after another and there are actors dressed up in old clothing with cuts all over them. They act out the history and try to scare you and stuff. There were also nine different rides. One where we had to shoot zombies, another you just go straight up and there was one big drop, one with water boats. It was an hour and a half long and it was really cool because we learned a lot and enjoyed it. The London fire was interesting - the whole city got burnt down from a bakery catching on fire. Sweeney Todd was crazy - the barber who killed his clients and sold them to a pie shop. I was disappointed when I googled that later and found out it wasn't true. After the London Dungeon we walked to Ben and Jerry's. It was raining and took us a half hour but we made it. And turns out it really was free cone day! We got in line which was about a half hour long. I got phish food.. The first time around. We got in line again and I got fudge brownie yogurt. We then went on a search for crab rangoon as we were in Chinatown. Well we're unsuccessful because crab rangoon does not exist in Europe!!!! Ridiculous! We were about to leave when we passed Ben and Jerry's. No line. We had to. So we went for thirds. I got phish food again. It was delicious. We walked to Trafalgar square and looked around then took a bus home.. A red double decker bus!! Of course we were obnoxious tourists and took a ton of pictures on the second floor. It was so cool. A little rocky though - almost got kinda sea sick. Went back to the hotel and relaxed. Some of the kids who worked there showed us how to get up on the roof so we climbed up in the rain and looked out over the city. It was really pretty all lit up. Went to bed. Some older lady was sleeping under Sarah's bed, which was right next to mine. (Sarah and Nicole's beds were next to each other and mine was in front of Sarah's). When I was going to bed some guy with a flashlight came looking for a mouse. The lady underneath the bed freaked. There was a mouse rustling around but we didn't care. She did. She made a big fuss and didn't speak English well. The guy ended up switching beds with her. We only got a few hours of sleep before we had to be up for the airport.
jueves, 22 de marzo de 2012
22/3/12
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!!!!
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!!!!
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.
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