So you would think with only 3 days of work per week I would be able to keep up with a blog, but apparently not. In between traveling and siestas there is just not enough time in the day.
So far teaching has been an awesome experience. I was placed in 5 different classes, 3 days a week. There are 5 grades in the school, primeros, segundos, terceros, cuartos, and Bachilleratos. they are anywhere from 12-18 years old. The first day of classes I introduced myself explaining where I was from and why I was there and they asked me questions about the states.
The most common questions I was asked
1.Whats your favorite food
2.Do I like to eat ham
3.What is Halloween
4.What is Thanksgiving
5.Do I prefer Spanish girls or American girls
6.Do you have a car
7.What time do you go to bed
8.what time do you eat dinner
9.Whats my favorite movie
10.Have I been to the statue of liberty
All of the classes are taught in English. Usually in Social studies the other professor Christina will lecture in spanish first and then I will give the same lecture in English. It is hard for me to know exactly what she says but I translate it for the students more or less. My other classes are all English classes so I usually pick a topic to discuss like clothes, Sports whatever and talk about vocab. I gave a presentation on halloween and in a few weeks Im going to talk about thanksgiving. The first lecture I gave was on stereotypes which was fun. Apparently Americans are all rich, SUV driving, Fast food eating, obese hamburger and hot dog lovers who never stop working, and all women have blonde hair and blue eyes.
I dont have a favorite class but I will say that the terceros are not my favorite. They are 14-15 years old and they never stop talking. The students in my classes are pretty much the same as when I went to Highschool. There is usually a classclown, a smart kid, a kid that refuses to open their notebook and do work, and a smelly kid. Another question that they asked me was if there is really a “popular girl” and clicks in highschools. There is a lot of american programs that play on tv here so they curoius if what they see is true. The students also thought it was really weird that we have school dances and that you need to pay to get in. Most of the teachers that do speak english, learned British english since it is the closest english speaking country.. So the professors speak with a british accent and all of the listening activities on CD's are in a British accent.
Thursdays are when the teachers like to go out together. Every thursday it is the same Irish pub called O'conells. Illescas is a small town so there is not much to choose from. Drinking starts around 7oclock with a few beers and later come the cubatas (coke and rum). All the teachers even the prinical go out until 2 or 3 oclock drinking. Im pretty sure the prinicpal gets the sloppiest out of any of us. Friday mornings are always fun when I am teaching students about body parts in PE class and Raul is constantly blowing the whistle in my face.
I try to take advantage of my weekends by going to Madrid and Toledo, both are only and hour away by bus. The first trip I took was back down to Sevilla where I studied. I met up with a friend from my old prgram and we had to stop in BigBens for some chupitos. BigBens was the best place to pregame\spend all night beucase they offered the cheapest shots but it was always filled with Americans. This is one of the reasons my spanish isnt as good as it should be.. I stopped in to see the woman who I lived with and she was excited to see me. She never used to talk to me unless she was telling me not to do something in her house but I figured I would pop in to say hi. I gave her my email and told her to write to me but I havent heard from her yet.
Most of the other teachers go home during the weekend so I usually go out with the other Auxiliar or some other Americans I met at the airport. Last weekend there was a free MTV concert. It was on saturday and sunday so we went to both and saw Katie Perry, Linkin park and a guest apearance Kanye West. Before the Concert we went to a Beer festival. It was in the Plaza del Torros and we drank some brews and ate brauts then went to the show. overall it was a good time.
This week is my roomate Alberto birthday and we are having a party here for him. I hope spanards like flip cup. If you have and birthday ideas for a 29 year old Spanish guy, let me know. Next weekend we are going to Salamanca to meet one of the guys alberto studied with. They went to school in Salamanca so im sure they will show me a good time.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
My Arrival!
An 8 hour flight quickly turned into a 15 hour traveling experience. I had 3 flight delays and had to change my flight twice. I got to sleep a little bit on the flight thanks to my friend botella de Vino (bottle of wine). Finally I arrived at Barajas Aureopuerto at 8:00 AM and of course my luggage is no where to be found. All I had was my small carry on with my ipod, phone, and computer and all of them were on low battery from the long fight. It would have made sense to pack my chargers but that would take planning. I found Customer Service and I filled out some paperwork with baggage claims. After 20 minutes of struggling to communicate my problem in Spanish, I got on the metro and I was on my way to the hostel.
I booked a hostel called Hostelone in Puerta Del Sol for 3 nights hoping to find a permanent Apartment during that time. The hostel was right in the Center of Madrid. The other thing that was right in the center of Madrid was The “Huelga General”. This was the General strike that shut down Public Transportation in and out of Madrid and some other cities. It seemed like a pretty calm rally, (probably not as calm as Glenn Beck's) and I didn't see and cars on fire unfortunately. Apartment hunting would have to wait for another day.
The first thing I should have bought was a toothbrush and some deodorant but the bar under my hostel took my first Euro toward a Mahuo Beer and Tortilla. When I went back to the Hostel to sleep it was pretty early but I was exhausted. I shared a room with 6 other people and one girl had the worst foot odor I have ever smelt. It was Beyond foot odor. It smelt like she was traveling for weeks then walked though a swamp, then stepped in dog poo. I guess this is why hostels are only 15 Euro!
Carranque is the town where I will be teaching. It looked a lot closer to Madrid on a map then it is in real life. I left Madrid at 7:00AM and got to my school at 10:00AM. I was planning on living in Madrid and commuting everyday but a 3 hour commute didnt quite fit my schedule. The night before was my my last night in the hostel so technically I was homeless at this point.
I got to the school and I found the Director of the program “Nacho” and he introduced me to all of the other teachers. The school has about 600 students and I am assisting in 2 classes with 12-13 years old and another with 15-16 year olds. It was weird how no has ever heard of New Hampshire.. Nacho told me that one of the other teachers named Alberto was looking for a Companero de cuarto (roommate) so I told Nacho I would do it. I had to go back to madrid to get my luggage that finally came. then back to Carranque to meet my new roommie. Things just always seem to workout for me.
I had no idea what to expect on this blind roommate setup. I had a picture in my mind of an older, heavier set hombre probably with a mustache. He was actually young and very normal looking. The Flat is really nice and it is in a new development.
I literally was living with Alberto for less than 24 hours when he came up to me and told me I cant live with him anymore. He said it all happened so fast and it “wasnt me it was him”. He said he preferred to live alone but I could stay as long as I wanted and he would help me find a place. At least I think this is what happened he was speaking muy rapido (very fast). Luckly he changed his mind AGAIN and decided that it was fine for me to live with him.
So the first 2 weeks didnt go as planned but it is definately more exciting that way. Now im settled in my new place and ready to start educating some spanards about American culture. Stay tunned to hear about how I try to manage a classroom full of kids.
I booked a hostel called Hostelone in Puerta Del Sol for 3 nights hoping to find a permanent Apartment during that time. The hostel was right in the Center of Madrid. The other thing that was right in the center of Madrid was The “Huelga General”. This was the General strike that shut down Public Transportation in and out of Madrid and some other cities. It seemed like a pretty calm rally, (probably not as calm as Glenn Beck's) and I didn't see and cars on fire unfortunately. Apartment hunting would have to wait for another day.
The first thing I should have bought was a toothbrush and some deodorant but the bar under my hostel took my first Euro toward a Mahuo Beer and Tortilla. When I went back to the Hostel to sleep it was pretty early but I was exhausted. I shared a room with 6 other people and one girl had the worst foot odor I have ever smelt. It was Beyond foot odor. It smelt like she was traveling for weeks then walked though a swamp, then stepped in dog poo. I guess this is why hostels are only 15 Euro!
Carranque is the town where I will be teaching. It looked a lot closer to Madrid on a map then it is in real life. I left Madrid at 7:00AM and got to my school at 10:00AM. I was planning on living in Madrid and commuting everyday but a 3 hour commute didnt quite fit my schedule. The night before was my my last night in the hostel so technically I was homeless at this point.
I got to the school and I found the Director of the program “Nacho” and he introduced me to all of the other teachers. The school has about 600 students and I am assisting in 2 classes with 12-13 years old and another with 15-16 year olds. It was weird how no has ever heard of New Hampshire.. Nacho told me that one of the other teachers named Alberto was looking for a Companero de cuarto (roommate) so I told Nacho I would do it. I had to go back to madrid to get my luggage that finally came. then back to Carranque to meet my new roommie. Things just always seem to workout for me.
I had no idea what to expect on this blind roommate setup. I had a picture in my mind of an older, heavier set hombre probably with a mustache. He was actually young and very normal looking. The Flat is really nice and it is in a new development.
I literally was living with Alberto for less than 24 hours when he came up to me and told me I cant live with him anymore. He said it all happened so fast and it “wasnt me it was him”. He said he preferred to live alone but I could stay as long as I wanted and he would help me find a place. At least I think this is what happened he was speaking muy rapido (very fast). Luckly he changed his mind AGAIN and decided that it was fine for me to live with him.
So the first 2 weeks didnt go as planned but it is definately more exciting that way. Now im settled in my new place and ready to start educating some spanards about American culture. Stay tunned to hear about how I try to manage a classroom full of kids.
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