Well, readers, I have lived in Spain for two months. It hasn't felt like two months yet. Time seems to be flying by for the most part. I know I'm thousands of miles away, but I don't feel like it. I feel really comfortable here and things are going quite well. I really love it here. The village is small, but I like that. It still doesn't fully feel like I am actually IN Spain (aside from all the Spanish, of course, haha!)
I update my blog as much as I can and I do my very best to be honest and as detailed as I can. I hope that you'll let me know if you have any suggestions on ways to improve the blog or if there is anything you want to know about, please don't hesitate to send me a message or post a comment. I'll do my best to address everything. :)
I've started to take some pictures with my classes so that I can share them with you. I know it's one of the areas I haven't really covered yet, so it'd be nice for you to see. Here are some that I have so far with descriptions underneath...
This is my 4 year old class. It is the only picture I have where you can, at least, see everyone, haha! It's hard to keep their attention for too long. :) Go figure.
I know I'm not looking at the camera, but I still really liked this picture. Look at the two little boys who are the in th middle of the picture in the back. Look at their expressions. How cute is that? HaHa!
I made a face at them and told them to make one back, haha!
This is the 4th grade class
This is one of the rowdy 5th grade classes, haha :) Diggin' the peace signs
And this is the 3rd grade class... definitely one of the rowdiest :)
I will take the rest in the coming weeks if I can. I just wanted to get a few posted, at least. I hope you enjoy.
Well, it happened again. I was asked to come up with a Christmas project for a class, so I did. I bought supplies, drew 50 antlers and cut every single one out, measured and cut all the other supplies needed for it. (I decided to make a rudolph hat thing) I even colored one and made an example to show the class before they started. I took it all to class and even had some rudolph music to support it. The teacher did not use ANY of it. I was definitely frustrated. It's been the same teacher every time that has asked me to come up with a project and has yet to use one, so maybe next time before I put a whole bunch of effort into it, I will get her to approve it FIRST. THEN, I'll put in all the work. :) I like doing the work. I like the responsibility. I just wish I was used a little bit more.
This week's 'teaching the teachers' was the most frustrating so far. We went in as we always do and there were the same couple teachers there. This period of time is supposed to be set aside for them to practice ENGLISH. Now, I do not expect all English, all the time, but there is not ANY English. They just sit there and chat in Spanish the whole time. I shouldn't complain, right? I'm getting paid to sit there and do nothing. But, I would much rather take something away from it. I want to learn. I realize they may not have the same intentions or desires and that's fine. But, so far, the Monday afternoon thing has been a real waste of time, for all parties. The other teachers are fantastic, don't get me wrong. It's not any type of personal attack, it's just me venting my frustrations. I want to learn more, haha... go figure. :) I will continue to go and hope for the best. Maybe by the end of all this, I will be right there chatting away with them... for now, that day seems so far away. And maybe that's what it is... I'm just frustrated with myself that I am not farther along than I am. That's probably moreso the case than anything, haha. I just need to stay positive and have faith that my speaking abilities will get better and I am learning more than I think I am.
We decided to start doing Christmas stuff in our English Club. We're making paper chains and coloring Christmas stuff. The kids seem to REALLY like it. We're going to decorate the hallway and show off our Christmas stuff to the rest of the school. I even downloaded a Christmas album on iTunes so that we could play Christmas music in the background of class. It definitely puts Joanne and I in a happier mood. There aren't many Christmas decorations up around town, so it hasn't started to feel Christmas-y yet. I know it's still a month away, haha... but where we come from, Christmas would have been throwing up all over the place already, haha.
I had an AWFUL headache the other day. I had taken some tylenol in an attempt to thwart it, but it hadn't kicked in... I couldn't figure out why, so I got to thinking... while I was sick, I didn't really drink much coffee. In fact, I hadn't drank any for at least a few days. I realized I was having a bit of caffeine withdrawls... a caffeine headache. I'm familiar with those! So, I had myself a coffee and rest for about 45 minutes and vua-lah...gone! HaHa! I wish that I wasn't falling so in love with coffee, but I can't deny it. I love it. I don't need it for energy or to wake up or anything like that. I actually enjoy it, haha! :)
One project we worked on last week was in honor of "International Day Against Violence Against Women" day. It was November 25th. The kids (all ages) made their hand prints and wrote little sayings of peace on them. Some kids drew pictures (many are very talented artistically). Each class was assigned a different color to put their hands on and they formed a rainbow. They put a rainbow in each building. I took a couple pictures just to show you.
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