Greetings from super sunny Spain. Yesterday it was so hot I had to get an ice cream, and I stupidly only took one napkin, forgetting that the napkins here in Spain aren't even napkins but rather tiny, shiny slips of paper that weren't designed to clean up messes but rather to mock poor, desperate humans such as myself. By the time I reached my apartment, I had a full-on chocolate beard. It was so hot I packed shorts in my bag to wear on my long walk home from school. I'm not sure what got more looks, my chocolate beard or my bare legs. In Spain, people don't wear shorts...or if they do, they don't until it's well into July. They apparently, for whatever reason, prefer to have sweaty legs than show a bit of skin. Wearing shorts was like having "crazy foreigner" written in red across my forehead. But honestly, I was willing to accept the judgmental looks so as to avoid an hour-long walk in jeans.
Today it was equally hot. I enjoyed a half-hour walk to the doctor and another half hour back beneath the full force of the sun. (I went to the doctor to get a blister checked. I got a blister checked because today was "hiking day" at my school, and I told them I couldn't make it due to a painful blister. They said they needed medical justification. So I got to walk an hour in the heat, bringing further pain to my foot, all in the name of justification for missing a day I wouldn't even be teaching anyway. Love bureaucracy!)
In general, I haven't had much of a chance to teach at that school lately. Last week was healthy breakfast week, meaning the kids ate "healthy breakfasts" (of toast and hot chocolate!!) instead of having class. My role involved standing and watching them eat this "healthy breakfast." The other day, a teacher spend a good twenty minutes reading off grades so that everyone knew what everyone else had received. (Yes, grades were announced for all to hear...as if being 12 years old isn't stressful enough as it is.) And then there was a full hour dedicated to having the kids "weave" on makeshift looms. Because the "looms" weren't real and therefore the yarn kept slipping all over them and getting tangled, and because eight kids were assigned to one loom, there was a lot more arguing than there was learning. Not sure what the point was. The other school I teach at, meanwhile, completely relies on the English lessons I prepare. At one school, the sixth graders don't understand "how are you?" At the other school, the first graders are already speaking in full English sentences. I'll leave you to guess which school is which. That said, there are absolutely adorable and interesting kids at both schools, and I do enjoy my experiences at both, for the most part. I just wish I could teach more at the breakfast-hiking-loom school, especially because in crisis-stricken Spain, knowing English can be the difference between having a career and living on the streets.
Onto lighter matters, I had two enjoyable outings recently. One was to see a production of "Yerma" by Lorca. My senior project was on Lorca, so now that I've had a little break from him, it was fun to return to Lorcaland for a night, especially in his home country. Another pleasant viewing was the movie "Ocho apellidos vascos" (Eight Basque Last Names). It was a nice change to see a Spanish movie rather than an American movie dubbed in Spanish, which make up the majority of what's in theaters here. The lips actually matched the words! Phenomenal. Plus, although I didn't get all the cultural references, it gave me many a good chuckle.
Time to go eat an early dinner and get to bed. Gotta try and get some sleep in, as I've set my alarm for 3:53am for my early bus and then plane to Dublin, where I'm meeting my mom and Mimi (my grandma). So excited! Until next time, chaps.
Today it was equally hot. I enjoyed a half-hour walk to the doctor and another half hour back beneath the full force of the sun. (I went to the doctor to get a blister checked. I got a blister checked because today was "hiking day" at my school, and I told them I couldn't make it due to a painful blister. They said they needed medical justification. So I got to walk an hour in the heat, bringing further pain to my foot, all in the name of justification for missing a day I wouldn't even be teaching anyway. Love bureaucracy!)
In general, I haven't had much of a chance to teach at that school lately. Last week was healthy breakfast week, meaning the kids ate "healthy breakfasts" (of toast and hot chocolate!!) instead of having class. My role involved standing and watching them eat this "healthy breakfast." The other day, a teacher spend a good twenty minutes reading off grades so that everyone knew what everyone else had received. (Yes, grades were announced for all to hear...as if being 12 years old isn't stressful enough as it is.) And then there was a full hour dedicated to having the kids "weave" on makeshift looms. Because the "looms" weren't real and therefore the yarn kept slipping all over them and getting tangled, and because eight kids were assigned to one loom, there was a lot more arguing than there was learning. Not sure what the point was. The other school I teach at, meanwhile, completely relies on the English lessons I prepare. At one school, the sixth graders don't understand "how are you?" At the other school, the first graders are already speaking in full English sentences. I'll leave you to guess which school is which. That said, there are absolutely adorable and interesting kids at both schools, and I do enjoy my experiences at both, for the most part. I just wish I could teach more at the breakfast-hiking-loom school, especially because in crisis-stricken Spain, knowing English can be the difference between having a career and living on the streets.
Onto lighter matters, I had two enjoyable outings recently. One was to see a production of "Yerma" by Lorca. My senior project was on Lorca, so now that I've had a little break from him, it was fun to return to Lorcaland for a night, especially in his home country. Another pleasant viewing was the movie "Ocho apellidos vascos" (Eight Basque Last Names). It was a nice change to see a Spanish movie rather than an American movie dubbed in Spanish, which make up the majority of what's in theaters here. The lips actually matched the words! Phenomenal. Plus, although I didn't get all the cultural references, it gave me many a good chuckle.
Time to go eat an early dinner and get to bed. Gotta try and get some sleep in, as I've set my alarm for 3:53am for my early bus and then plane to Dublin, where I'm meeting my mom and Mimi (my grandma). So excited! Until next time, chaps.
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