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For those of you who haven't been able to post comments on the blog or would prefer to contact me directly, feel free to e-mail me at lwbest6@gmail.com . I'd love to hear from everyone!!

Teaching, traveling and Halloween

Week three in Madrid and I've finally started teaching! The last week or so has been kind of crazy because two of my teachers were sick and I've already been thrown into teaching a couple of classes completely on my own (by the way, I've had zero teaching experience before now!!). It's had its ups and downs so far, but I think the kinks will work themselves out soon. The teachers I'm working with are very open to any suggestions I have with teaching materials and methods of learning in the classroom, which is awesome. I teach first graders four times a week with two different teachers. At the start of every class I get them to tell me the day of the week, the month, the date, the year, the season and the weather. Then I usually take between one and three students out of the classroom and ask them questions in English such as, how old are you? and where are you from? I like this time because I get to know the kids on more of a one on one level and can assess their English speaking skills. A lot of what first graders do is just regurgitate to you what they have been told. Something must be going right though because my fifth graders are very, very smart! The large majority of my time is spent with both of the fifth grade classes. One is well behaved, whereas the other class is a little more rowdy, but they both treat me as if I'm another teacher, which is about all I can ask for. They are working on present tense right now. As in every class, some have picked it up rather quickly, while some are taking a little longer. I have a student in one of my classes that spent two years in an American school in Spain and goes to the States every summer for camp that speaks English just like you or I would. He is so helpful!!

Right now, I'm trying to figure out activities for the kids to do for Halloween. It's not as widely celebrated in Spain, but it has gotten more and more popular in recent years. So, if anyone has suggestions in that department I would love to hear them. One of my teachers wants me to put together a big poster to hang in the classroom so I've been thinking about getting kids to draw and color jack o' lanterns and then I thought about maybe making masks out of paper plates or something similar. I wish I had It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but unfortunately, I don't have enough time for my mom to ship it to me. I can't wait to show them the Christmas video though!!

Teaching, along with my one hour commute to and from school everyday, has kept me pretty tired, but I think the weekends will be great for sightseeing. Last weekend, a couple friends and I walked around Madrid through a couple of parks, the Royal Palace and some of the busier shopping areas. I also made it to a park that's about a fifteen minute walk from our flat called Retiro Park or El Parque del Retiro. It is beauuuutiful - unlike any park I've ever seen in the States. We finally got a converter so I can charge and use my camera now too, so pictures will be up soon! I'm hoping to make myself run over there some while I'm here. Nearby the park there is an art museum that I've been wanting to go to. It's free every weekday for two hours each evening, but I may just break down and pay to spend a day there. This is when my nerdy side comes out because there are paintings there that I've learned about in several classes at NC State and it's so cool to actually get to see the things that you've studied. :-)

Everyone thinks I'm crazy because I'm already planning a trip to Florence, Italy, but I have a friend that's studying abroad there for the semester. I can only go for a long weekend with my work schedule, but flights around Europe are extremely cheap, so it's not that big of a deal. Figuring out the train situation between the airport and her flat has been kind of a hassle though. The only other location I've decided I definitely want to go to, that's outside of Spain, is Switzerland. I've been looking into hangliding over the Alps. There are so, so, so many places I want to see while I'm here, but I don't have the time or the money to make it everywhere! So, those of you who have traveled around Europe before please give me some must-see places because I'd love the advice.

Other than that, I'm still not loving the food, so my roommate and I have been cooking a lot. Nothing fancy, but it's a lot cheaper and probably a lot healthier than eating out anyway. By the way, it's pretty interesting to me that when you eat out here wine and beer are almost always cheaper than water and sodas. I guess that's mostly because everything is bottled. I haven't found anywhere that serves tap water yet and I have yet to see any kind of soda machine. Ha, anyways, I miss everyone like crazy so, I'd love to hear from you guys!

Hooray for American football!!

It's my second week in Spain and I'm officially starting school tomorrow. I went to my school this past Thursday to familiarize myself with the layout of everything, I got my official work schedule and I got to meet several of the teachers I will be working with (I'm not the primary teacher in the classroom, I am an assistant to several different teachers at my school). As far as my schedule goes, I don't work Mondays and go from about 10 am to 2 pm Tuesday through Friday. I'm teaching first and fifth grades in English and Science, but it will all be taught in English. I will also be helping the teachers with their English every Wednesday afternoon for a couple of hours after school. I'm working on the prospect of teaching English for a few hours every week outside of school as well to make some extra money - I don't get my first paycheck until the end of the month! If you're interested in seeing the school I'm working at the link is:

http://www.educa.madrid.org/web/cp.dulcinea.alcala/ingles/index_e.htm

I will try and get pictures up soon so you can see the inside and everything too!

Just in the first day of being at my school it is very clear that the Spanish education system is quite different than that of the States. Teachers dress very casually, jeans and flip flops are completely acceptable, and children address them all by first name. The kids, in general, are very loud and I have been told I will be spending a lot of my time trying to get them to be quiet in the classroom. For those of you who don't know, I have no intention of being a teacher when I get back home, but I really wanted the experience of it. And, who knows? I may end up loving it and decide that is what I really want to do.

I'm currently in the process of finding a time and location in or around Madrid where I can take the GRE. I took it a few months ago at home, but would like to take it again to improve my scores in enough time for me to apply to graduate school for next fall. Right now, I'm looking into a Spanish translation program at UNC - Charlotte, but I will keep you guys posted on that as well.

As far as where my apartment is, I've finally had a chance to actually get out some and learn my way around the area that I'm living in. Things are usually pretty busy except for Sundays. We actually heard guys walking through the streets the other night around 12:30 or 1 am singing victory songs after RealMadrid won their game. People are craaazy for soccer (futbol) here!! I can walk to pretty much anything I need around my apartment as well. There's a metro station about two blocks away and a massive department store called El Corte Ingles that has everything from groceries to housewares to clothing, etc. Last night we actually found an Irish pub that's not even a block away that plays NFL on Sundays!!!! Spaniards couldn't care less about American football so we were pretty much the only people in there, but it was so exciting because I've been missing football like crazy already. Especially my wolfpack!!

Church yesterday was pretty interesting too. We had a meal where everyone brought a covered dish and we all sat around a big table to eat and hang out together for a few hours. Again, I'm not a big fan of the Spanish cuisine, but I tried several things and the dessert was very good - not that you can go too wrong with chocolate. :) Anyways, I think church is going to provide a really good opportunity for me to work on my Spanish comprehension and speaking skills. I speak English all week with my roommate, other Americans in my group and at school. But at church, people who speak English do not speak very much and they are more than willing to help me with my Spanish. Right now, listening to them speak and understanding everything they say is pretty difficult for me, but I think the more I listen and the more I practice, the easier it will become.

I guess that's all for now. Again, if I'm leaving anything out that people are curious about just let me know! I miss all you guys and I hope to hear from you soon!!!