La Paz

La Paz, or Peace Day, is celebrated here on January 30th. This year it was a Monday. The students all drew and colored pictures, prepared short statements or stories, etc. and presented them at the end of the day. The older students drew a dove on the playground with "LA PAZ" written next to it.

Madrid

Six of us American girls decided to meet in Madrid for the weekend of January 28-29...

Brittany and I managed to survive and successfully navigate the buses from Navaleno to Soria, then Soria to Madrid. From there we also had to master the Metro system, which we did, and arrived at our destination approximately 5 hours after we started traveling. This was on Saturday. We met up with Tahreer, Laura, Eva, and Cassandra at our hotel, Suites Foxa 25, near the Chamartin train station. From there we headed out to the city center. We crammed a lot of action into this one day so I will only describe the highlights...

We went to the Museo Reina Sofia to see Pablo Picasso's work (namely Guernica.) If I can find it, Brittany illegally took a picture of it; it was really inconspicuous too, considering that she left the flash on..............

On our quest to find my destination, El Parque del Retiro, we ended up at the (dead) botanical gardens. I still enjoyed it. (We never actually made it to Retiro Park.)

Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid con Eva

La Puerta del Sol is considered the very center of Madrid. From there were strolled down Gran Via and hit up REBAJAS. I bought 2 pairs of boots (win.)

We saw the Palacio Real de Madrid, or the Royal Palace. It's the official residence of the King, Juan Carlos. It is huge and very ornately designed.

Palacio Real con Brittany

Close by, we saw Santa María la Real de La Almudena Cathedral with the sunset in the backdrop. Que bonito. Our last stop in the city center was the Plaza Mayor, filled with restaurants, shops, and more.

Santa María la Real de La Almudena Cathedral at sunset

Somewhere along the way we had quite the experience in the metro. We had unintentionally gotten on a subway going in the wrong direction. Easy fix, we will just get off at the next stop... For normal intelligent folks that would be an easy task, but you haven't been to Madrid with 6 girls before have you? Well long story short we couldn't figure out that the doors are NOT automatic on the metro, and by the time we did, only half of us made it out alive (only after beating up a few old women with my shopping bags [lo siento!] and Brittany's near loss of a limb after getting stuck from the knee down in the doors.)

We ended our night with the classic dish paella and some sangria. Sunday was spent traveling all the way back to Soria.

Differences

So I thought I'd compile a list of things unique to Spain (some of these probably apply to Europe in general) that are different than what you'd expect to see in America. Maybe not all of Spain, but most definitely Navaleno.

• So many doors. Doors to every section of the house. I believe this is to keep heat in (or cold out.)
• Not having/needing/using a dryer for clothes. Don't ask me how anything gets dry or warm in this country, it is a total mystery to me.
• Ham. It's ALL about the ham. Hamon. Meat meat meat.
• I have noticed that couples get married and have children at an older age here.
• People are REALLY big on the three R's - Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. This includes not leaving lights on unnecessarily, separating the trash, and not leaving the heat on all the time.
• Siesta-ing. Mid-day breaks where children go home from school and teachers hang out and do whatever. After a couple hours, everyone comes back for a few more hours of school. The school day ends at 5. Interesting concept.
• For younger children: as opposed to have a universal teacher and a universal classroom, students rotate rooms and teachers every school day.
• Everyone CAN and DOES dance, always. They are born dancing here.
  
• Lateness. Eat late, go to bed late, wake up late, go to work late, go to school late. They do everything later in the day (school starts at 9:45!)
  
• Furthermore, I have never seen anyone rush.. Anywhere. Ever.
  
• Lunch is the big meal of the day for Spaniards, not dinner or breakfast. It's usually 2 courses and possibly dessert (which is usually fruit.)
  
• Teachers dress casually. Usually jeans or leggings are appropriate.
• Teachers can leave students in a classroom for a bit unattended, and the students don't go crazy or burn down the room.
  
• Teachers are allowed to yell at, hug, kiss, grab, etc. their students WITHOUT a lawsuit.
• Sometimes, two or more age groups are taught in the same room by the same teacher.
• Some teachers travel to different schools during the week.
• Some students get special one-on-one attention and classes.
• The towns are so small that they actually do call them villages. (More accurately, "Billages.")
• In said villages, it is impossible to go anywhere without running into someone you know (or at least, someone who knows YOU) including students, parents of students, grandparents of students...
• Anonymity is IMPOSSIBLE.
• If you don't eat enough you will be harassed, so you'd better eat until everyone else is done too.
• Handball is a serious sport, not just something you play in elementary school before you are able to understand real sports...
• There is a weekly lottery here. It is run by the blind people (?) and it's supposed to be a way to drum up donations... what happens if someone wins the lottery, you ask? Do the blind people lose all their money? No one can give me a straight answer on that one.
• It is true that the Spanish eat plenty of bread, with almost every meal. However, they do not serve butter (mantequilla) with it.. so when Brittany asks for it she always gets some interesting looks.
• Not every village has a movie theater (cinema) or a salon... but EVERY single one has a sweets shop.
• TV programming in Spain is different. The blocks of actual programming are longer, multiple commercial breaks are skipped and then longer blocks of commercials are played less often. I like this because it's harder to miss chunks of your show because of frequent, short commercial breaks. (Much of the programming is the same- Two and a Half Men, CSI, NCIS, Sponge Bob, (Bob Esponja lol) The Big Bang Theory, etc.
• The norm for a birthday in the US is that he/she is taken out by his/her friends to drinks and dinner. In Spain, the opposite is true. The birthday girl/boy takes alll of his/her friends out for drinks and dinner. I tried to pay for the drinks and I got staunch opposition from the girls. That's the last time I try to pick up the tab in Spain...
  

This is by no means conclusive. I will continue to add more as I find out more about Spain.

"Every day in Navaleno is an adventure."

Consider the word "jump." Juh-m-puh. Jump. Jump. jUmp. juMp. jumP. It comes naturally to you, no? Ah, well try teaching a 6 year old Spanish child that word. Then you will know my pain.

This week we are doing "My Animal Book" in science class with the cycle 1 children. They have learned about carnivores, herbivores, reproduction (viviparous versus oviparous) and so on. In their little book, they are supposed to write what each animal is, what it eats, how it reproduces and what it does. Well, unfortunately for everyone involved, a frog jumps. "Hops" was an option I considered, until I realized that it was even harder to pronounce and understand for them. So the teacher, Sandra, and I worked for 45 minutes attempting to explain to them how to spell jump (even though it was on the board the whole time.)

Besides spelling with the younger children, I work with older kids too. Their problem, however, usually lies in the pronunciation of words. Even "pronunciation" is hard to pronounce! A dios mio. So, for Spaniards, I have learned that every word beginning in "s" is pronounced as if it is spelled beginning with an "e." For example: "I speak eh-Spanish good. Ingles, no. Jajaja!"

What have I learned this week? REPETITION. What have I learned this week? PATIENCE. Repetition. Patience. Bien? Bien.

Luckily, Wednesday was an early day. We got off around 2 or 2:30 and went home for lunch. A fellow teacher, Isabel, is staying with us for a few days. Her home is Salamanca. She is a wonderful cook and I love having her here. They decided that while the weather was "warm" that they should take me to see the nearby sights. So Isabel, Ana, Barbara and I took a trip to the cañon. On the way we ran into a herd of sheep. Yes, sheep. I'm going to petition for a "sheep crossing" sign. The canyon is in a national park, called Parque Natural Cañon Del Rio Lobos. The river Lobos runs through this canyon, and at the bottom is a huge cave and an old church. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. We stood at the top looking down, and then ventured into the canyon for a closer look. It was magnificent.

The view from the top

The church from inside the cave

The ladies are fantastic. Isabel is great company and her cooking is fantastic. Ana is very warm, welcoming, and inviting. They make my meals and even bought me some gloves because I'm always shivering. Barbara is young, fun, very caring and funny. Time with them always provides for a great day.

Thursday comes and everything is running smoothly thus far. The children behaved well and we worked on the same activities as before. After work, the three of us went for a long, brisk walk around Navaleno. What did I see? Trees. Pine trees. Maybe a little snow. And then some more pine trees. We stopped and had some chocolate at Barbara's house before we went home. (My friends in Spain love chocolate as much as me!) All is well.. until we get home.

Finally I am able to unlock the door. First it was, "The door is bad." Then it turned into, "No, no, you doing it wrong," and then finally we decided that it was the key's fault. So now, with a new key, I can get in the front door. However, this ability is useless when the inside is just as cold as the outside..
Yes, the heater broke.
Yes, I almost cried.
Long story short, Barbara invited me to sleep at her place, with her hot water, working radiators and coveted wifi. What a good friend, no?

Me and my new friend Barbara at the National Park of the River Lobos

Ah, it occurs to me that I have not explained my situation very well. I will be teaching at three different campuses/satellites (?) of the same school, CRA Pinar Grande. I am based out of Navaleno, where I live, which is the biggest school (about 84 students and 10 teachers.) The smallest school is in Abejar, which has 1 teacher and 5 students. Cabrejas del Pinar has 12 students, and the teachers are my dear friends Soraya and Barbara. They live in Navaleno as well. As of yet, I only spend 45 minutes at Abejar and Cabrejas per week, and the rest of my time is in Navaleno. (I haven't been to Abejar yet.)

Now I will catch up. Today is Friday. Now I am really starting to get involved in my classes. I played a game with the fifth cycle students, did an entire presentation by myself in a second cycle science class, and now I must go read an English story to the 5 year olds! I met with the Inspector (I think inspector is a bad translation-- superintendent, maybe?) of the school today too. He was very generous, accommodating, and kind... I have yet to meet a Spaniard that I didn't like.

"No Pasa Nada"

The Spanish live a very Hakuna Matata type of life. This is quite a hard adjustment for a foreigner who can´t figure out her heater, whose apartment door is literally impossible to open, and who everyone knows as "the American" but can hardly speak to. But let me begin at the beginning...

Our night out in Valladolid

My second night in Valladolid was filled with food and drink, heart to hearts, some emotional moments, and a LOT of Spanish. Did I mention drinks? The day after that late night, we were taken to the regional officials in charge of our program. From there, Brittany and I were taken to her village which is only three miles away from mine. Somehow, with the help of Carlos, I was able to make my way from Brittany's village of San Leonardo to my village, Navaleno. It was cold and I was.. sick. My flat mate was not there; she is in Madrid. For now, I am alone. After a 12 hour recoup I wake up and join two teachers, Soraya and Barbara, in their little car to their school. Did I mention that they are the only teachers? Two teachers, twelve students, two classrooms. This is Cabrejas.

View from the steps of CRA Pinar Grande, Cabrejas

The students are shy at first but soon warm up. Simon Says in English was the biggest hit and got the most participation. Everyone's English is better than I expected. During recess, Soraya and I walked to the panadería, or bakery. On the way we ran into many people, including parents and grandparents of our students. It was clear that I was the gossip of the village that day. We have a siesta-type of break during the day for an hour and the children go home. Soraya, Barbara and I stayed at the school, listened to American music, skyped with my Dad, ate lunch and gossiped. Afterwards the class returned, and we split up into Infantile and ..the bigger kids. I hung out with Barbara and the little ones. After school, we returned to Navaleno at about 5:30. At 7 we met up and went to the Theatre- did I forget to mention that it is Festivale? We watched a 1.5 hour comedy, in Spanish of course. Afterwards, we hit up the orqestra- a huge gymnasium filled with playing children, dancing old couples, and drinking adults. A Mexican band was playing Shakira covers and we were drinking San Miguel. Drinking and dancing with my "work mates" was not how I thought this day was going to go, but... me gusta. The night ended with the four of us (Me, Barbara, Soraya and her flat mate Raquel) attempting to get through the impossible door of doom that keeps the Antarctic exterior of Soria safely divided from my (semi-) warm bed inside.

Soraya and the students

This morning was difficult considering we didn´t get back until 1 am ("we" meaning me; the girls went out for round two after this.) I walked to my second school. It is CRA Pinar Grande, the Navaleno.. campus? Satellite? It´s the "big" school.. er.. biggest. Eighty-four students, about ten teachers. Everyone has been so friendly and helpful. Here is where I will spend most of my time, helping three teachers with their students of all ages. I will be helping in science, arts & crafts, infant, and second cycle classes. Today everything has gone smoothly and the children show a sincere and genuine excitement about my presence. Since we are at the tail end of our festival celebration, today is an odd day, as many of my pupils are travelling to San Leonardo today to put on a little performance. So here am I, sitting in the Language Lab, freezing my tail off. So far, life in Soria still seems unreal. What to me is a transient and fantasy life is reality to these Spaniards.

If I have learned anything from this trip it is this: In the words of mi amiga nueva Soraya,

"Don't worry, don´t worry. This is Navaleno."

The Arrival

Acueducto Romano


PBI to ATL, ATL to MAD. Made it safely, didn't miss a flight.. Nothing too exciting there (except for a few airport drinks with Uncle Paul who used his police voodoo to get through security.)

We were picked up and taken to the gorgeous historical city of Segovia, home of the Roman Aqueduct. We hit up the Catedral de Segovia and the Alcazar there too. I ate my first Spanish meal at a restaurant in Segovia which was a sandwich with a Spanish "tortilla" which is really an omelet.

That was Friday - Saturday (not sure when one ended and the other began) and now it's Sunday. Britt and I slept 12 hours after a fun night of Hulu and drinking boxed wine with Tahreer. (Everything is hilarious after being awake for over 30 hours.) We decided not to go out with the others because of the lack of sleep..

It's hard to accurately describe how different things are yet. We are here in Valladolid (the capital of Castilla y Leon region) staying at the Mozart Hotel. We slept through the free breakfast so I'm living off of my chewy bars and peanut butter I brought in my suitcase. So far, all is well.

This is the last place that I know for sure that I have Wifi (pronounced wee-fee). Tonight is the traditional Spanish dinner and then tomorrow we split up and head off to our prospective destinations... This should be interesting.

Alcazar

And so it begins.

I will begin from the beginning. I started off the Fall 2011 semester the same as any other semester. By chance I came in contact with a certain TEFL celebrity who happens to be in charge of the TEFL program at UCF.. and my life hasn't been the same since. My dreams of traveling the world and digging up artifacts changed to traveling the world and teaching English. From there I stumbled into an interview to do just that and now I'm a week away from my plane ride into Madrid, leaving behind my classes, boyfriend, cats, car, apartment and bathing suits. Lost? Yea, me too. My goal, at this point, is just to survive.

My new home
Navaleno, Soria, Castile & Leon Region, Spain

Whether you're cheering me on, living vicariously through me, or tuning in to watch me struggle, join me on this journey.