Today was a fabulous day. I was prepared for all my classes, which is a rarity I must say. The best part of the day was with the third graders. I found a cute poem about Fall that you could read to the tune of the Wheels on the Bus. Don't tell Ri Ri I sang it with other people, she may turn jealous. It was totally cute. I felt like I was more of a music teacher, counting out the beat and stuff. But the kids loved it. Some got bored kinda easily, but that is going to happen... I even made motions to go along with the verbs. I had trouble thinking of a motion to show how the leaves change colors, but I just did a motion of a circle. But then for the verb tumbling down, I did a motion, like when you make a Conga line but from top to bottom. The kids all stood up to motion with me. Then to do the swish of the leaves as they hit the ground, we did a window wiper but from side to side. I realize now that the descriptions aren't that great but give it a try to see how it works. I felt a bit silly, but I guess that's what teaching is some times.
It was just a really good day. I really enjoyed it.
Can anyone try and give me some hints on where to eat for my bday dinner. I tried to ask people at my school, but no one had any ideas. I might like and try Chinese food, but I dunno. Maybe we can all do an Internet search and see what comes up?
Give me a ring or jot me an email when you get a chance. Love ya
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Where the others live...
Hey Folks, sorry for the delay in entries. I have been sorting through what to do with the students, and I began tutoring yesterday. Where to begin... well this week is going better than last week, so far. Except that the first grade teacher is STILL out sick, I hope she is ok, but that makes my life a bit harder. Because she is absent, there is always a different person in the class with the students when I enter the class. Having so many different people in the class, must be confusing and frustrating for the kids, because none of us know all their names already, so we just say hey you, or walk up to them. The upper grades are going pretty well.
We began the week discussing the bones of the body. You have to be a doctor to know all the bones they wanted to students to name. I only know one in the legs and don't even start with the face! I hoped to high heaven that Maria would not ask me to name all the bones in English. Thankfully she did not, but it definitely gave me a scare. Sarah B. I totally thought of you immediately with all you Bio stuff. The kids laughed their butts off when I went to show them the hips, cause I started to dance. Now most of you know the kind of dancer I am.... it did not look good! But I guess with little ones you gotta be an actriz some of the time, and not be afraid to make a fool of yourself!
I began tutoring on Tuesday. I met with Phil, from Belfast, to discuss the family and what he could tell me about private lessons. Now similar to what you do Pat, a lot of it consists of homework help, but also advancing them to the next chapter or subject so that they can be prepared and have a head start for when the topic comes up at school. This place was gorgeous!! The floor was huge, for a Madrid flat. Not that I had seen a floor, before in Madrid, but I can only imagine what other places look like. I am working with a girl, Beatriz, who is 6 and her brother, Joaquin, age 8. The ages are perfect because they are the same age as my students at school. But that these children attend a private school, and have had more exposure to English than my students at Fuentelarreyna.
Poor Beatriz actually started to fall asleep on me, in my session! Granted she was just copying the alphabet, but still.... SO to animate her a bit I played Simons Says, the popular children's game. I'm sure you've heard of it, no? Well she immediately perked up, which was fantastic! Then I conned her into finishing the work before we would continue with the game. It worked like a charm. I gave her the rest of the alphabet to cover before I see her again tomorrow.
Now her brother on the other hand....
He was much more advanced, obviously because of age. But he was telling me that he spends most of his day doing English grammar drills and Science activities. For example, I was asked to help him with his homework, which Phil had inclined me NOT to do, but the mother insisted. But we worked on the different ways to describe size (small, itty-bitty, big, giant, enormous, and average). He had a bit of difficulty with the differentiation between sizes, but overall understood the difference. We then moved onto the way animals move... I was trying to ellicit an animal that jumps/hops (i.e. bunny, which took him forever to get, but I think because it was too easy for him. Well he tried his hardest to tell me this animal that jumps around at night, which I was lost about. Then I said, does it make a sound?? finally we figured out it was a cricket, I thought he was talking about a grasshopper, but hey I guess that's kids for you. Never know what they are going to say.
Overall it was a good evening. From there I trekked over to the a park near the Royal Palace for a nice picnic with some of the people from the group. Connie, the girl at my school with me, insisted that she make some brownies, which she had to purchase from the American Store. They were actually really tasty except for the burnt edges. I missed the sunset, being it was 8:45 by the time I arrived, but had a nice time discussing school.
Much to my horror though I came to find out that two people are leaving the program, one who left today. Its too bad that something could not have been worked out, but the guy who left today, Jon, was told that he would be working with high school students, which NO he couldn't by design of the objectives for the program. Two he doesn't speak Spanish and the worst part is he doesn't like young children. It was just sad that he couldn't hold out a bit until Lynde arrives next week. Other people that were told could work with high school kids, figured something out with their schools to give them the opportunity to work with that age, but he didn't ask, or maybe was just too much in culture shock to even care at this point. Then I heard that Margaret, who has complained since the beginning is leaving too, but that I'm not too sad about because she was totally bringing the rest of the group down. As I've said time and time again about this program is you need to be flexible because we are the guinea pigs, but i guess some people would rather have liked it to be more structured and prepared. Well tough noogies!!
I have extended the invitation to the whole group to join me for a night on the town on Saturday for my big day. Unfortunately some people have already made plans to go visit Granada, but I will arrange other plans for those who are not going to be here. But the only problem is no one knows where to go! But he when in Rome, make it up! I am hoping to invite a small group to my apt for dinner on Friday, but I'm not sure yet who. I cant invite the whole group, because as you can see from the photos I don't have enough space. But it will work itself out.
I hope the Boston crowd enjoys the Tapas night, and that we shall ALL be talking on Saturday evening, at any hour, cause chances are I'll be up. And even if you don't think I'll be up, call anyway, I love voicemail, but of course would rather talk in person.
Well gotta run off and find a short poem on Fall to teach to the 3rd graders tomorrow. Talk to you soon.
We began the week discussing the bones of the body. You have to be a doctor to know all the bones they wanted to students to name. I only know one in the legs and don't even start with the face! I hoped to high heaven that Maria would not ask me to name all the bones in English. Thankfully she did not, but it definitely gave me a scare. Sarah B. I totally thought of you immediately with all you Bio stuff. The kids laughed their butts off when I went to show them the hips, cause I started to dance. Now most of you know the kind of dancer I am.... it did not look good! But I guess with little ones you gotta be an actriz some of the time, and not be afraid to make a fool of yourself!
I began tutoring on Tuesday. I met with Phil, from Belfast, to discuss the family and what he could tell me about private lessons. Now similar to what you do Pat, a lot of it consists of homework help, but also advancing them to the next chapter or subject so that they can be prepared and have a head start for when the topic comes up at school. This place was gorgeous!! The floor was huge, for a Madrid flat. Not that I had seen a floor, before in Madrid, but I can only imagine what other places look like. I am working with a girl, Beatriz, who is 6 and her brother, Joaquin, age 8. The ages are perfect because they are the same age as my students at school. But that these children attend a private school, and have had more exposure to English than my students at Fuentelarreyna.
Poor Beatriz actually started to fall asleep on me, in my session! Granted she was just copying the alphabet, but still.... SO to animate her a bit I played Simons Says, the popular children's game. I'm sure you've heard of it, no? Well she immediately perked up, which was fantastic! Then I conned her into finishing the work before we would continue with the game. It worked like a charm. I gave her the rest of the alphabet to cover before I see her again tomorrow.
Now her brother on the other hand....
He was much more advanced, obviously because of age. But he was telling me that he spends most of his day doing English grammar drills and Science activities. For example, I was asked to help him with his homework, which Phil had inclined me NOT to do, but the mother insisted. But we worked on the different ways to describe size (small, itty-bitty, big, giant, enormous, and average). He had a bit of difficulty with the differentiation between sizes, but overall understood the difference. We then moved onto the way animals move... I was trying to ellicit an animal that jumps/hops (i.e. bunny, which took him forever to get, but I think because it was too easy for him. Well he tried his hardest to tell me this animal that jumps around at night, which I was lost about. Then I said, does it make a sound?? finally we figured out it was a cricket, I thought he was talking about a grasshopper, but hey I guess that's kids for you. Never know what they are going to say.
Overall it was a good evening. From there I trekked over to the a park near the Royal Palace for a nice picnic with some of the people from the group. Connie, the girl at my school with me, insisted that she make some brownies, which she had to purchase from the American Store. They were actually really tasty except for the burnt edges. I missed the sunset, being it was 8:45 by the time I arrived, but had a nice time discussing school.
Much to my horror though I came to find out that two people are leaving the program, one who left today. Its too bad that something could not have been worked out, but the guy who left today, Jon, was told that he would be working with high school students, which NO he couldn't by design of the objectives for the program. Two he doesn't speak Spanish and the worst part is he doesn't like young children. It was just sad that he couldn't hold out a bit until Lynde arrives next week. Other people that were told could work with high school kids, figured something out with their schools to give them the opportunity to work with that age, but he didn't ask, or maybe was just too much in culture shock to even care at this point. Then I heard that Margaret, who has complained since the beginning is leaving too, but that I'm not too sad about because she was totally bringing the rest of the group down. As I've said time and time again about this program is you need to be flexible because we are the guinea pigs, but i guess some people would rather have liked it to be more structured and prepared. Well tough noogies!!
I have extended the invitation to the whole group to join me for a night on the town on Saturday for my big day. Unfortunately some people have already made plans to go visit Granada, but I will arrange other plans for those who are not going to be here. But the only problem is no one knows where to go! But he when in Rome, make it up! I am hoping to invite a small group to my apt for dinner on Friday, but I'm not sure yet who. I cant invite the whole group, because as you can see from the photos I don't have enough space. But it will work itself out.
I hope the Boston crowd enjoys the Tapas night, and that we shall ALL be talking on Saturday evening, at any hour, cause chances are I'll be up. And even if you don't think I'll be up, call anyway, I love voicemail, but of course would rather talk in person.
Well gotta run off and find a short poem on Fall to teach to the 3rd graders tomorrow. Talk to you soon.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
A relaxing weekend
So this week was pretty taxing so I have had a relaxing weekend to prep for next week, a full week. But before I was able to relax I took some pics of the apt and had an extremely long game of Monopoly. Gina was the first person to go Bankrupt and then I was shortly after her. But we had a great time, we stayed up way too late too, 4am!!! Take that to those of you who think I am a granny, ha, I say! But it was really nice. Then Saturday I just stayed in and cleaned. I was planning on going to the White Night events, but it started to rain pretty heavily, and today I heard from some people that went, that they were only able to see one event, there were so many people. I'm cool that I missed it though, I wasn't really in a great mood to go out anyway, so I stayed in and watched Barcelona play against Sevilla in a soccer match. It was fun actually just to chill out.
Our seminar begins this week which I am anxious to hear how everyone else is doing in their schools. Unfortunately though, I beleive we already have one girl leaving the program! Its sad to hear that Margaret will be leaving, but she doesn't have any teaching experience and is simply not happy. Its a total shame, cause she's a nice girl and has a lot of fun, but maybe its too much, I dunno. I hope we can convince her to stay, but I'm unsure.
This week should be a bit better for me, because Maria will be visiting the school to discuss with the teachers we are working with, what our roles in the classroom are to be. This should help identify what the purpose of the program is and so there is not anymore confusion.
Wish me luck in week #2!!
Attached I ahve included some pics of my room and the famous ghetto granny phone, if it doesnt work, I will attach a link to shutterfly.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Getting situated
Hi Folks,
I am beginning to get situated in my classes and am starting to like it. Most of the upper grade classes are wonderful and attentive, its going to be the little ones that need the most concentration. I was able to work with a great third grade teacher yesterday, Pilar. She was able to help translate for the day, because the students were asked to only speak to me in English of course. So the class had to write down some questions they wanted to ask me and I put them in groups to choose two questions that the brave kids to ask. It worked fabulously and they had some awesome questions. They seemed really excited too which certainly helps the situation. There is one deaf boy in this class but he can read lips and talk, so I imagine he is more hard of hearing than completely deaf, but I don't want to get into medicine. I was kinda sad already that I wont get to see this class til next Thursday, but am excited to do different things with them. I will be focusing on poems, dramas, and stories to do with them as it is a literature class, that I am proctoring.
Then came the hard part.... FIRST GRADE.....
Now I understand that first graders are small and have difficulty paying attention, but they couldn't even stay still for one page of a book. I couldn't even read the words on the page!! But at the same time it want a complete disaster. They were able to draw something red from the book, such as an apple, tomato, and some drew a heart, or watermelon. I was really impressed with the students that went above the task and thought about what in the world around them is red. It's a relief to know that some students can work on a different level. The tough part about this session was I could hardly get the kids quiet on the rug to listen to the page, and the teacher did not help me at all! Finally at the end, when I was leaving... she says to me next time to get them quiet there is a bell on my desk that you can ring or something else.... ( I often forget words and simple phrases in both languages so you'll have to excuse me sometimes)
But hey lets leave school for now and talk about the APT and my rommie!
I am so lucky to have a good roommate, Kate I hope you can say the same thing! Gina is awesome, we have a lot of fun together just talking, its funny though, cause she says that when I leave I will be more like a Latin American than a Spaniard. But I hope to be a mixture of both. In fact one of the students asked me yesterday what my favorite food was, and I said Mexican (I miss Boca Grande and a carnitas burrito) yet then tried to get them to laugh or respond because I said oh when I leave here though hopefully will say Spanish food! They needed the teacher to rephrase it for me in Spanish and I got a good response.
I am often surprised by the mixture of cultures here in Madrid. There are a ton of Chinese people and a bunch of Spanish people are white as white and blonde hair, which kinda breaks the stereotype of what a Spaniard should look like. But its all a part of living in a new place.
I should go now cause I should probably do something productive today, but please people call me today, for those people I have been desperately trying to speak with, and anyone else too.
I am beginning to get situated in my classes and am starting to like it. Most of the upper grade classes are wonderful and attentive, its going to be the little ones that need the most concentration. I was able to work with a great third grade teacher yesterday, Pilar. She was able to help translate for the day, because the students were asked to only speak to me in English of course. So the class had to write down some questions they wanted to ask me and I put them in groups to choose two questions that the brave kids to ask. It worked fabulously and they had some awesome questions. They seemed really excited too which certainly helps the situation. There is one deaf boy in this class but he can read lips and talk, so I imagine he is more hard of hearing than completely deaf, but I don't want to get into medicine. I was kinda sad already that I wont get to see this class til next Thursday, but am excited to do different things with them. I will be focusing on poems, dramas, and stories to do with them as it is a literature class, that I am proctoring.
Then came the hard part.... FIRST GRADE.....
Now I understand that first graders are small and have difficulty paying attention, but they couldn't even stay still for one page of a book. I couldn't even read the words on the page!! But at the same time it want a complete disaster. They were able to draw something red from the book, such as an apple, tomato, and some drew a heart, or watermelon. I was really impressed with the students that went above the task and thought about what in the world around them is red. It's a relief to know that some students can work on a different level. The tough part about this session was I could hardly get the kids quiet on the rug to listen to the page, and the teacher did not help me at all! Finally at the end, when I was leaving... she says to me next time to get them quiet there is a bell on my desk that you can ring or something else.... ( I often forget words and simple phrases in both languages so you'll have to excuse me sometimes)
But hey lets leave school for now and talk about the APT and my rommie!
I am so lucky to have a good roommate, Kate I hope you can say the same thing! Gina is awesome, we have a lot of fun together just talking, its funny though, cause she says that when I leave I will be more like a Latin American than a Spaniard. But I hope to be a mixture of both. In fact one of the students asked me yesterday what my favorite food was, and I said Mexican (I miss Boca Grande and a carnitas burrito) yet then tried to get them to laugh or respond because I said oh when I leave here though hopefully will say Spanish food! They needed the teacher to rephrase it for me in Spanish and I got a good response.
I am often surprised by the mixture of cultures here in Madrid. There are a ton of Chinese people and a bunch of Spanish people are white as white and blonde hair, which kinda breaks the stereotype of what a Spaniard should look like. But its all a part of living in a new place.
I should go now cause I should probably do something productive today, but please people call me today, for those people I have been desperately trying to speak with, and anyone else too.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A much better day
Today I felt much more comfortable with the students. My first class, a second grade group, did fantastically. We reviewed the parts of the body, such as arm, elbow, wrist, torso, and such. Then once we felt comfortable we cut out parts of the body to make our own people. The students were able to identify them but the difficult part was for them to choose between two images. The point was that the paper had pictures of two people, a chubby boy, and a skinny girl. I tried to get the students to make funny looking people using different parts, but they simply copied what I did. I am excited to continue with them tomorrow. We ran out of time to paste them onto a sheet of paper but we will do that tomorrow. The teacher was really helpful too because she helped me ensure that they were understanding the directions, by asking one student at a time what to do. Now granted they responded to her in Spanish but at least they knew what to do.
The next class was a first grade class, which I knew would be tough to keep their attention. However, it was much harder than I thought because their teacher was absent, and therefore, random teachers would come in to cover the class. I was left by myself for a while, and I didn't even know half the students names. I tried to read them a story about colors, but they could only identify the colors and did not get that I was trying to get them to solicit different things with that color. Eventually I let them go back to their seats and they had to draw an object that was red, such as a sweater or an apple. It worked but I think my expectations for them are too high. As a told one of the English teachers, that I am used to having students follow a mini lesson and then complete a task. However, with the younger children, to do all that in half an hour is a lot. Which I guess I need to keep in mind for the future. I am making my way though.
Gina already has me booked up for the weekend, having lunch with friends and her friends are coming over to play Monopoly. Now Jill you have to give me some pointers, I know you are very competitive with this game, so you gotta help me. Then she has invited me to meet her family on Sunday, but I think I am going to Santis house. But her family sounds a bit crazy, to which she can attest to also. Well just have to take a rain check. No worries though.
Well that's all for now. Hey and write me back peeps!! I miss talking to you all. This is our message board, so use it!
The next class was a first grade class, which I knew would be tough to keep their attention. However, it was much harder than I thought because their teacher was absent, and therefore, random teachers would come in to cover the class. I was left by myself for a while, and I didn't even know half the students names. I tried to read them a story about colors, but they could only identify the colors and did not get that I was trying to get them to solicit different things with that color. Eventually I let them go back to their seats and they had to draw an object that was red, such as a sweater or an apple. It worked but I think my expectations for them are too high. As a told one of the English teachers, that I am used to having students follow a mini lesson and then complete a task. However, with the younger children, to do all that in half an hour is a lot. Which I guess I need to keep in mind for the future. I am making my way though.
Gina already has me booked up for the weekend, having lunch with friends and her friends are coming over to play Monopoly. Now Jill you have to give me some pointers, I know you are very competitive with this game, so you gotta help me. Then she has invited me to meet her family on Sunday, but I think I am going to Santis house. But her family sounds a bit crazy, to which she can attest to also. Well just have to take a rain check. No worries though.
Well that's all for now. Hey and write me back peeps!! I miss talking to you all. This is our message board, so use it!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The first day jitters
Hey Folks,
Today was my first real day with the students, and it was TOUGH! I had an idea for what I was going to do with the kids, but when I got to class, I could tell that they were not going to be able to play the game. It was a bit of a disaster...
But I tried my best and the teacher was not upset. We simply reviewed different shapes, and where you find them in the classroom, or outside. The triangle was the hardest for them, which I kinda knew ahead of time, but they were able to come up with a few.
The most challenging part is that the school has limited materials, and are giving us the freedom to do what we want. Now some may say that's great, but I need a starting place before i can go off and do my own thing with them. Plus its tough because of spacial relations. These children stay in their seats for most of the day and don't get to move around. In the states (as your now called) we have a rug and a general meeting place for the community but here its just these huge tables. The kids don't even have proper desks to keep their things in. But enough complaining, i guess...
After school I went with Connie, the girl I am working with at the school, to an English bookstore and found some easy word books about colors and other words. Can anyone say, Richard Scary??
It was funny though cause it was like a step back in time, to see all these children's books we loved as children covered with dust in the basement of this creaky building. We kept saying, Oh, I LOVE that book, or we could remember certain series from TV or whatever. I feel a bit better about where to start now, but its going to be a long road for the month of Sept, which is almost over, if you haven't noticed!!
It was great to talk to many of you on the phone last night, others, though.... we need to talk more!!! Phone cards are not that expensive and once I get my land line connection on Thursday (plus a phone) it will be much cheaper to call me there than my cell, but that doesn't mean you cant call.
Listen I gotta bounce...
I am fending for myself for dinner tonight, Gina is working late and cant cook for me
(I feel very spoiled, but I have already offered to make her something tomorrow or Thursday (I was thinking Hoisin Chicken??) Any other suggestions?
Catch you later...
Today was my first real day with the students, and it was TOUGH! I had an idea for what I was going to do with the kids, but when I got to class, I could tell that they were not going to be able to play the game. It was a bit of a disaster...
But I tried my best and the teacher was not upset. We simply reviewed different shapes, and where you find them in the classroom, or outside. The triangle was the hardest for them, which I kinda knew ahead of time, but they were able to come up with a few.
The most challenging part is that the school has limited materials, and are giving us the freedom to do what we want. Now some may say that's great, but I need a starting place before i can go off and do my own thing with them. Plus its tough because of spacial relations. These children stay in their seats for most of the day and don't get to move around. In the states (as your now called) we have a rug and a general meeting place for the community but here its just these huge tables. The kids don't even have proper desks to keep their things in. But enough complaining, i guess...
After school I went with Connie, the girl I am working with at the school, to an English bookstore and found some easy word books about colors and other words. Can anyone say, Richard Scary??
It was funny though cause it was like a step back in time, to see all these children's books we loved as children covered with dust in the basement of this creaky building. We kept saying, Oh, I LOVE that book, or we could remember certain series from TV or whatever. I feel a bit better about where to start now, but its going to be a long road for the month of Sept, which is almost over, if you haven't noticed!!
It was great to talk to many of you on the phone last night, others, though.... we need to talk more!!! Phone cards are not that expensive and once I get my land line connection on Thursday (plus a phone) it will be much cheaper to call me there than my cell, but that doesn't mean you cant call.
Listen I gotta bounce...
I am fending for myself for dinner tonight, Gina is working late and cant cook for me
(I feel very spoiled, but I have already offered to make her something tomorrow or Thursday (I was thinking Hoisin Chicken??) Any other suggestions?
Catch you later...
Monday, September 17, 2007
The ideal class
Well today I finally started my teaching. I am working at the Fuentelarreyna school with students between the ages of 6-8 yrs old. Now as some of you know I have not had too much exposure to the six and seven year olds, but I am excited to start. Now not to bag on BPS or anything, but already it was soo evident that the students know how to act and what is expected of them within the class, and not to mention that school just started hardly a week ago. As a side note please excuse any spelling errors or weird phrases as I sometimes transfer phrases from Spanish to English which sounds archaic (sp?).
Anyway... onto the important stuff...
The classes
So... I have NINE classes that I will be working with for thirty or forty five mins each week. Now I don't know about you but that's a lot of kids to deal with, but I guess for you high school teachers, that's not too bad. The students were so excited to see me, yet its easy to see that many of them lack the vocabulary just to ask questions. For the older students I told them to think of 4 or five questions to ask me next time I see them to give them time to absorb the information.
Now the hardest part of all this is... that I can not let them know I speak Spanish! Now yes its going to be very helpful if they don't know I speak Spanish, but really really hard for me because I can not help them find the word in English. Even over the course of the day today I found myself holding back a lot to not spoil the illusion. The littlest kids are sooo cute! It reminds me of Maddie and Sophie, our old neighbors, when they were little.
The Teachers
They are all very nice but having to work with so many may be a challenge to accommodate styles between the two of us. I can already tell who will be really influential and those that I will just be a colleague. But again am anxious to see what they think of my teaching.
As a side note, if anyone has any ideas for little nursery rhymes or songs that I can use with the kids, I welcome all advice you want to provide. The school does not have many materials, so I have to come up with a lot on my own, which is where you all come in...
Any Questions? Please let me know what else to include in these entries cause its hard to write everything down.
I gotta run and begin planning for tomorrow and the rest of the week.
And the best news is that I will receive access to Internet on Thursday!! Whoo Hoo!!
Anyway... onto the important stuff...
The classes
So... I have NINE classes that I will be working with for thirty or forty five mins each week. Now I don't know about you but that's a lot of kids to deal with, but I guess for you high school teachers, that's not too bad. The students were so excited to see me, yet its easy to see that many of them lack the vocabulary just to ask questions. For the older students I told them to think of 4 or five questions to ask me next time I see them to give them time to absorb the information.
Now the hardest part of all this is... that I can not let them know I speak Spanish! Now yes its going to be very helpful if they don't know I speak Spanish, but really really hard for me because I can not help them find the word in English. Even over the course of the day today I found myself holding back a lot to not spoil the illusion. The littlest kids are sooo cute! It reminds me of Maddie and Sophie, our old neighbors, when they were little.
The Teachers
They are all very nice but having to work with so many may be a challenge to accommodate styles between the two of us. I can already tell who will be really influential and those that I will just be a colleague. But again am anxious to see what they think of my teaching.
As a side note, if anyone has any ideas for little nursery rhymes or songs that I can use with the kids, I welcome all advice you want to provide. The school does not have many materials, so I have to come up with a lot on my own, which is where you all come in...
Any Questions? Please let me know what else to include in these entries cause its hard to write everything down.
I gotta run and begin planning for tomorrow and the rest of the week.
And the best news is that I will receive access to Internet on Thursday!! Whoo Hoo!!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Noche Buena
So last night we all met up at the director of UCETAM,s house. P.S. I dunno where the apostrophe symbol is on the keyboard is so you ll have to excuse some words. Well of course I got lost going to his house but i met a really nice Irish girl who tried to help me but she did not have a good grasp of Spanish so it was nice to find another person who spoke Spanish. All this thinking in English and then translating is really hard! Although with time I should be able to think in Spanish and wont waste so much energy. Anyway...
Fernando's house is beautiful... We had plenty to drink and you would not believe it, but I danced with a man!!.... I don't even know his name, but he was an excellent dancer. Alexis.... thanks to our days of practicing swing, I managed to compose myself! It was kinda strange though, but fun.. Unfortunately I left my camera at home but as soon as I get the pics from the rest of the group I will be sure to add them to the blog. Currently I do not have Internet at my house, I just called them today, and I should have it within the week hopefully. Once I get that I can add as many photos as I want!! Well after the party we all piled into cabs and went to a discotheque, but at that point I had had too much at Fernando's house, so I could hardly move, but it was fun to say the least. I am hoping that we can do it again for my bday, maybe at another club though, hopefully in the Chueca neighborhood, to have some nice girls at the club... who knows... keep your fingers crossed.
Needless to say I slept very late today...
But Gina invited me to have lunch with her cousin, who speaks English and the couple that lives in the other basement apt. It was really nice to hear English. Yes I realize I keep saying it was nice hear English, but its a nice break during the day.
I am now off to meet Antonia, a friend of a friend of Alexis. Then tomorrow I am going to Santis house for paella, that his younger brother, Javi, is going to make. It should be fun.
Plus I am excited to meet his family and see where the other people live.
Wish me luck!
Fernando's house is beautiful... We had plenty to drink and you would not believe it, but I danced with a man!!.... I don't even know his name, but he was an excellent dancer. Alexis.... thanks to our days of practicing swing, I managed to compose myself! It was kinda strange though, but fun.. Unfortunately I left my camera at home but as soon as I get the pics from the rest of the group I will be sure to add them to the blog. Currently I do not have Internet at my house, I just called them today, and I should have it within the week hopefully. Once I get that I can add as many photos as I want!! Well after the party we all piled into cabs and went to a discotheque, but at that point I had had too much at Fernando's house, so I could hardly move, but it was fun to say the least. I am hoping that we can do it again for my bday, maybe at another club though, hopefully in the Chueca neighborhood, to have some nice girls at the club... who knows... keep your fingers crossed.
Needless to say I slept very late today...
But Gina invited me to have lunch with her cousin, who speaks English and the couple that lives in the other basement apt. It was really nice to hear English. Yes I realize I keep saying it was nice hear English, but its a nice break during the day.
I am now off to meet Antonia, a friend of a friend of Alexis. Then tomorrow I am going to Santis house for paella, that his younger brother, Javi, is going to make. It should be fun.
Plus I am excited to meet his family and see where the other people live.
Wish me luck!
Friday, September 14, 2007
OMG, No GREY'S!!
So I just found out that I can not watch Grey's or any of my shows online, cause only people in the US are allowed to watch them. What am I going to do!! The world just may end...
I found an apt!! Hooray
Buenas tardes a todos!
Good afternoon to everyone. Sorry for the short ending last entry. The girls were about to have a fist fight over the connection, just like in the movies. For a quick link, please visit, Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtjgFaYSJ4Q. Of couse, I was not in it, being the gramma, I am, but still its pretty funny. We had to pass teh time somehow, and why not with a video?? After much trials and tribulations we finally ALL made it out from Juvie yesterday, one week after we arrived, not bad, huh?? The challenging part was that we all had to take cabs to our new places, but it was worth jsut to get out.
As a brief going away party for us girls, the two boys, well I guess men you could call them, Juan Carlos and Fernando, went and bought a bottle of wine for us all to share. And of course yet again, out comes the video camera. But it was super sweet cause Fernando could not stop praising us, saying we were the best group they had had in dorms, and that we were very fun, probably cause of the youtube video. It was really nice of them to do that for us, and we appreciated it.
Ok so now.... THE MOVE....
So once I arrived at the building I callled down to Gina, who kindly opened the door, yet did not turn on the lights, down to the basement, where I am staying quite cozy. That being said I practically was an old lady, walking down the dark stairs to my apt. I tried not to think about the fool I was making of myself.
The Room- it can be described in on word, IKEA, (Jill and Kimmie you would LOVE it!!) No the apt is really nice, even if it is in the basement. It reminds me a bit of Sarah B's backbay apt. Its brightly colored with a bright green, kinda funky, but it works. Next entry I will try and include photos as I am not keen on blogging as you may have noticed... I will try though and if anyone wants to send messages about how to do teh pics, thats great too!
As a side note, wow! its great to use a nice shower again... I feel so refreshed.
The evening was spent going to the "Chino", like a dollar store run by Chinese, yeah I found out pretty quickly that the Spanish are not quite so p.c. There I found a little table for my computer, and yes when I get internet I will be on much more, I imagine and can even talk to some of you online, if you have AIM. I also got a trashcan adn other little things, really cheaply. I still have a few more things to get, but I have all day.
Gina was nice enough to make dinner for me, and I totally lucked out, 'cause she is a chef!! (Dad, you hear that!, but dont worry I'll stay loyal...) Now when they say chef, she means a salad, but i am excited to see wahtelse we can come up with.
We felt like such pigs last night, cause we did not only have one dinner, but 2! Now it was not expected, but another waitress at the restaurant, her husband is Cuban and so he brought us a selection of Cuban food, which is Requisima!! (awesome, and delicious) For those of you who think I dont eat that much, you should ahve seen me last night, I was quite gluttonous. Of course then I felt bad, but hey you only live once, right?
Next we watched the film 300, in spanish of course, and I realized taht I am not ready for dubbed films. I still look at the faces to decipher what they are saying but it doesnt work. I guess it will come with time though...
Look forward to more installments soon to come!!
Good afternoon to everyone. Sorry for the short ending last entry. The girls were about to have a fist fight over the connection, just like in the movies. For a quick link, please visit, Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtjgFaYSJ4Q. Of couse, I was not in it, being the gramma, I am, but still its pretty funny. We had to pass teh time somehow, and why not with a video?? After much trials and tribulations we finally ALL made it out from Juvie yesterday, one week after we arrived, not bad, huh?? The challenging part was that we all had to take cabs to our new places, but it was worth jsut to get out.
As a brief going away party for us girls, the two boys, well I guess men you could call them, Juan Carlos and Fernando, went and bought a bottle of wine for us all to share. And of course yet again, out comes the video camera. But it was super sweet cause Fernando could not stop praising us, saying we were the best group they had had in dorms, and that we were very fun, probably cause of the youtube video. It was really nice of them to do that for us, and we appreciated it.
Ok so now.... THE MOVE....
So once I arrived at the building I callled down to Gina, who kindly opened the door, yet did not turn on the lights, down to the basement, where I am staying quite cozy. That being said I practically was an old lady, walking down the dark stairs to my apt. I tried not to think about the fool I was making of myself.
The Room- it can be described in on word, IKEA, (Jill and Kimmie you would LOVE it!!) No the apt is really nice, even if it is in the basement. It reminds me a bit of Sarah B's backbay apt. Its brightly colored with a bright green, kinda funky, but it works. Next entry I will try and include photos as I am not keen on blogging as you may have noticed... I will try though and if anyone wants to send messages about how to do teh pics, thats great too!
As a side note, wow! its great to use a nice shower again... I feel so refreshed.
The evening was spent going to the "Chino", like a dollar store run by Chinese, yeah I found out pretty quickly that the Spanish are not quite so p.c. There I found a little table for my computer, and yes when I get internet I will be on much more, I imagine and can even talk to some of you online, if you have AIM. I also got a trashcan adn other little things, really cheaply. I still have a few more things to get, but I have all day.
Gina was nice enough to make dinner for me, and I totally lucked out, 'cause she is a chef!! (Dad, you hear that!, but dont worry I'll stay loyal...) Now when they say chef, she means a salad, but i am excited to see wahtelse we can come up with.
We felt like such pigs last night, cause we did not only have one dinner, but 2! Now it was not expected, but another waitress at the restaurant, her husband is Cuban and so he brought us a selection of Cuban food, which is Requisima!! (awesome, and delicious) For those of you who think I dont eat that much, you should ahve seen me last night, I was quite gluttonous. Of course then I felt bad, but hey you only live once, right?
Next we watched the film 300, in spanish of course, and I realized taht I am not ready for dubbed films. I still look at the faces to decipher what they are saying but it doesnt work. I guess it will come with time though...
Look forward to more installments soon to come!!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
The first few days
Hey kiddos and family:
Sorry for the delay, its been crazy here for me.
Lets start from the very beginning...
I had a FABULOUS time with Jill, Sarah B., Kate and especially Riley and LIz who made a surprize visit to Boston to bring me to the plane. It took forever to get through the security line, but I made it safely. I realize many of you have already heard some of this, but hey thats just what you ahve to live with, sorry...
Anyway, once we arrived after the endless twenty something hours we were carted off to the dorms. But OH no, that was not all, some of you may cringe at this, but they actually dropped those students who already had confirmed apartments in the middle of the street at a red light!! Can you beleive it!!
We FINALLY arrived at JuVe (as we call it) super late to find that the dorms are no more than a room with twenty beds in it, all bunk style. I guess we did not know what we were up for.
We slept in late, and took the day to purchase phones and see a wee bit of the city.
I have the most ghetto phone known to man/woman! In fact I received the ultiamte complement today from my landlord, who is probably in her fifties, and asked me in the most serious and excited tone, OMG where did you get that phone!! I have been looking for a phone with larger font, since my eyes are going bad. I tried sooooo hard not to laugh at the comment.
Well then we spent the weekend at La Granja (The Farm) its like Outdoor Ed for Spainards. But I mean the middle of NOWHERE!!!! There was only dust and rocks. We were treaked out in a bus, who at points seemed like they had no breaks, he was going soo fast. Once we got there we had a chance to relax, which is all we seemed to be doing this far.
Check out the next installment coming soon. (Like Tomorrow)
Luv yall
Sorry for the delay, its been crazy here for me.
Lets start from the very beginning...
I had a FABULOUS time with Jill, Sarah B., Kate and especially Riley and LIz who made a surprize visit to Boston to bring me to the plane. It took forever to get through the security line, but I made it safely. I realize many of you have already heard some of this, but hey thats just what you ahve to live with, sorry...
Anyway, once we arrived after the endless twenty something hours we were carted off to the dorms. But OH no, that was not all, some of you may cringe at this, but they actually dropped those students who already had confirmed apartments in the middle of the street at a red light!! Can you beleive it!!
We FINALLY arrived at JuVe (as we call it) super late to find that the dorms are no more than a room with twenty beds in it, all bunk style. I guess we did not know what we were up for.
We slept in late, and took the day to purchase phones and see a wee bit of the city.
I have the most ghetto phone known to man/woman! In fact I received the ultiamte complement today from my landlord, who is probably in her fifties, and asked me in the most serious and excited tone, OMG where did you get that phone!! I have been looking for a phone with larger font, since my eyes are going bad. I tried sooooo hard not to laugh at the comment.
Well then we spent the weekend at La Granja (The Farm) its like Outdoor Ed for Spainards. But I mean the middle of NOWHERE!!!! There was only dust and rocks. We were treaked out in a bus, who at points seemed like they had no breaks, he was going soo fast. Once we got there we had a chance to relax, which is all we seemed to be doing this far.
Check out the next installment coming soon. (Like Tomorrow)
Luv yall
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