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!