"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre." -- Gail Goldwin

The quote in this title has never been more true for me.

The tile sign outside of the front gate to the school

Now that I’ve almost completed my fourth week of “teaching,” I feel that I can aptly write about my experience so far. I’ll start with the basics.  I’m teaching at a primary school (pre-school through sixth grade) called Josefa Frías in a town called Santiponce.  The school is really great and the town is absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.  I haven’t gotten a chance to walk around and take pictures, but I will post some soon.  My commute consists of a 20-25 minute walk to the bus stop and then a 20 minute bus ride, unless I catch the express bus which only takes 10 minutes.  It’s a really easy, convenient commute because the bus actually stops right in front of my school.

The front entrance to the school.

Now for the actual experience so far.  One word to sum it up: interesting.  There are two things that have been the most challenging these first few weeks. The first is the fact that my bilingual coordinator (the person who is essentially in charge of everything I do and how I do it) just arrived at school last week. So for the first two weeks the other teachers that have been covering her position have been scrambling, changing my schedule, shuffling me around, and giving really no direction at all as to what I was supposed to be doing.  Also, 8 out of my 14 classes (yes, I have 14 different classes every week) are taught with her. So, I had been working with a sub who seemed to be just about as clueless as I was.  Another result of her absence the first weeks was that in some of the English classes they had no sub, so they principal said to me, “well you can just teach the classes right?” Oh sure, I’m completely comfortable teaching classes I have never met, I have no idea what they are studying or what their level of English is, and I have no materials. Awesome. However, now that she’s here, there has been a complete 180⁰ change.  She is a really cool lady, extremely supportive and helpful, and I’m really glad I am going to be working with her so much.  She came right out and said “ok this is how it’s going to work, I’ll let you know at the end of the week exactly what you’ll be responsible for doing the next week. I’ll gather all the materials you will need and let you know at least two days in advance if I want you to prepare something, and if you need anything just let me know.”  Whew.  Finally I feel like I have direction and support for what I’m doing which makes me much more confident.  She even took away one of my classes so that we can have an hour for coordination every week.  This is huge, because the teachers don’t have plan periods like I’m accustomed, at least no plan periods that coincide with my schedule.  The school day goes from 9-2 with only a half hour break from 12:00-12:30, so that leaves no time to plan things with any of my teachers. But now I’m much more comfortable with what’s going on.

View of the front gate from inside

 The second part that has been most challenging is the fact that I completely underestimated how different teaching a second language to elementary students is from teaching one to high school students.  I realized that a lot of my personal teaching style is based on my ability to relate to my students and make jokes with them and be on their level.  That is nearly impossible to do with the 4-10 year olds.  When you’re working with kids that small, you are much more a parental figure   than a friend. 

the front courtyard

To compound the fact that they are younger kids, we are not supposed to speak to the students in Spanish at all. So, to try and avoid the inevitable blank stares, I find myself speaking really slow, being really animated and using gestures for just about everything I say (hence the title of this post.)

the back yard flooded with rain

   I’m pretty comfortable with the 5^th and 6^th graders, but the four pre-school classes that I have are totally out of my comfort zone.  The good thing about them though, is that really all you have to do is sing songs and draw pictures and do activities because they don’t even really know how to read or write in Spanish, let alone English.  Little by little, I’m getting used to working with the little kids, and I’ve come a long way since that first day. 

Last week was really fun because all week, all I had to do was talk about Halloween and do Halloween related activities, so it was a pretty easy week.  Well now that I feel like I’ve covered all the basics I’ll leave it at that, now I can just share short, funny stories when they come up!  Stay tuned for my next post about my trip to Lagos, Portugal.

The camera's only job is to get out of the way of making photographs. - Ken Rockwell

Ok, so I've gotten some really great feedback from my posts so far, and I've received some requests for more photos.  The post that will follow this one is going to be all words because it is about my teaching experience thus far, so I figured I would just share some pictures for now. I hope you enjoy!

This is me in Plaza de España, which, in my opinion, is Sevilla's most impressive site. 

On October 15th we went to the Global Democracy demonstration. It was really moving to know that all over the world people were marching for the same cause on the same day. The sign in this picture says "If they rescue the banks with my money, then the bank should pay my mortgage." 

This is the pedestrian street San Jacinto.  I walk through it twice every day when I go to and from the bus station.  It's full of cute shops and cafes, and it's always bustling with people.

I love taking pictures of the graffiti around the city.  Here it seems to be almost accepted as an art form.  I find most of the good stuff under the bridges that cross the river...here are some of my favorites:

 

life's a beach.

A trip to the beach in October? Yes please.  This past Saturday, my roomies and I, along with some other girls from our program, took a trip to a beach called Matalascañas. After almost getting lost on our walk to the bus station (the very same bus station I walk to every day for school, but that shouldn’t surprise any of you) it was about an hour bus ride from Sevilla to the province of Huelva, where the beach it located.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather.  There was hardly a cloud in the sky, it was hot enough for a beach day, but not too hot so you were sweating just lying there.  When we arrived, we set up shop on the beach – we brought sheets and airline pillow that we found in our apartment and packed lunches, so we were set for the day.  One great thing about it was that not many natives still go to the beach in October, so it was not nearly as crowded as I’m sure it gets in the summer.  With Spanish people, they adjust their lifestyles according to the calendar, not the temperature.  We foreigners on the other hand decided we would take advantage of this heat while it lasts!  All in all it was a wonderful day.  We were there from 12 to 5:30 soaking up the sun, taking walks up and down the beach, cooling off in the water, and taking LOTS of pictures as usual.  Don’t worry; I only got a teeny bit sunburned.  Even though it’s still very hot here, the sun is not as strong because it is technically fall.  My two favorite things about the trip were the amount of shells on the beach and this super hot guy that we affectionately named “Ken Doll.”  But back to the shells…the part of the beach closest to the water is covered with thousands of beautifully colored whole shells.  Very different from some beaches where you‘re lucky if you find a few intact seashells.  And as far as the guy, I think the nickname explains it all.  

 Me = super excited to be at the beach! Well more like I felt the need to take a picture jumping because that's what people do at the beach I guess. And it looks like I was waaaayyy further off the ground than I really was.

My new roomies and I

a place for everything and everything in its place

Great news everyone, we found an amazing apartment! Words can hardly even express how excited I am about where we are. But since a blog is all about words, I'll give it a shot.  So I'm living with 3 other American girls in a four bedroom apartment.  It's big, clean, bright, and just great. The best thing about it, is that it came COMPLETELY ready to live in. Not only was every room totally furnished (right down do hangers, bulletin boards, little garbage bags, hampers, etc.), but the kitchen has everything you need. We will have to by toiletries and such, but other than that it's great. 

There are two full bathrooms that look brand new, only one has a bidet though haha. I don't plan on using the bidet for its intended purpose, but I discovered that it is the ideal place to shave your legs, no joke. We also have two patios, one for hanging laundry and the other is an interior balcony. I feel so at home in my new room, it's unbelievable. (Consider yourselves warned as there will be many pictures following this post)  Another great thing is all the storage this place has, hence the title of this post. No room is lacking; there really is a place for everything.  One of my favorite things so far about this place is that every time we open a cabinet door or drawer, we find something new. Examples: mini Christmas tree complete with white lights, a huge stack of someone's passport photos, a really intricate tea set, paint brushes, sewing supplies, and a CD labeled "recuerdos de Sevilla" (memories of Sevilla). We have yet to pop that in and see what's on it, but I'm sure it will be interesting. 

Ok before I go on and on and bore you all to death, one last thing - great location.  There is a river that runs through Sevilla and when I studied abroad I live on one side pretty far away from most things except the train station. Now I'm living on the other side of the river in a zone called Triana.  It's quiet, cozy, close walk to the center and the bus station I need to go to as well as many of the parks and the hoppin places in town, and we have multiple supermarkets, stores,and cafes within  a five minute walk. So if you can't tell already, I'm ecstatic. Oh, another last thing, I'm currently posting this entry via stolen internet. The connection is good, but we don't have access at all hours of the day.  But we are going to ride these coattails for as long as possible so we don't have to pay for internet!  In case anyone wants to stalk me on google earth or send me Christmas cards (hint, hint) here is my address:

C/ Luz Arriero 2

Casa 3, Bajo A

Sevilla, Spain 41010

Now come the pictures:

Our fine selection of beverages that came with the place (yes those are forties).

Our living room with patio access.

Our patio view of the interior of our building.

Other view of the living room (you can see the fully stocked and decorated book case)

Our lovely kitchen.

Yes, the washing machine is in the kitchen, and no, there is no dryer. I'm pretty sure driers don't exist in Spain. 

Went to the grocery store the first night (Saturday) and all we bought was booze and chips and salsa. Turned out to be a big mistake because all the supermarkets are closed on Sundays.  Luckily I found an "everything" store that's open every day to hold me over.  By the way, tinto de verano is my favorite drink here. It's red wine mixed with lemon flavored pop. The best thing about it, is you can buy it already mixed. Yes, there are three in there...don't judge.

Hallway with cute book shelf, stocked with really random books. 

First bathroom

<-Second bathroom ->

             

My first meal consisting of all this I bought from the store: a little ham sandwich, yogurt, and drum roll please....Cheeseburger flavored lays.  Oh and I brought the mio with me from home.

My room :)

 



The view from my window to our laundry. Those sheets are from the people above us and it smells wonderful in my room!

I  LOVE my side table.

My lucky elephant, random penny that was left here, and Barefoot Moscato, in case of emergency. 

This is a close up of my armoire, with the door folded down. Insanely organized....let's see how long it stays that way.  

The view of my room from outside on the patio.





And that's it!!

amor is in the air (and no that's not me in the picture)

So since I'm obsessed with taking pictures and I think I'm just as good as any professional, I will also be posting my favorite pictures that I take every once in a while. My new favorite thing is taking creeper pictures of other people...enjoy!

Getting here was ALL the battle.

Well everyone, I made it back to Sevilla safe and sound.  Although it was a long journey with heavy, heavy bags, getting here went off without a hitch; and for those of you who shared in my paperwork woes, you know what a relief this is.  I didn’t intend on starting a blog, but I figured it’s a really efficient way to keep everyone in the loop on what’s going on. I’ll try and keep my posts short and interesting.  So, back to the land of vino, naps, partying until 7:00am, and fried everything. Part of my feels like I never left, and part of me feels like everything is new.  

So I was pretty jet lagged when I got here – much worse than last time – so I may or may not have slept from 5:00pm to 11:00am.  This probably doesn’t really surprise anyone because I really do love sleep.  But I’m back in action looking for a place to live and waiting to start school.  I have nothing to report on those yet since neither has been established yet…so more details to come from there.

Most exciting thing to report was my weekend trip to Madrid to visit my friends from home who were traveling through Europe just as I was arriving.  Let’s just say wow.  After copious amounts of sangria, trying suckling pig, and ordering bottle service at a club while dancing until 6:30am, I think I could call that weekend a success. 

  

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 (Awesome thing about Madrid: their creepy street performers in Plaza Mayor. My favorites of the day was fat Spider-Man, and the possessed goat thing.)

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So that’s all I have really to report so far. I’ll use this page to keep you all updated on my adventures and to share funny/cool/scary/ridiculous stories.  For example, yesterday I met with some girls from my program to hang out and chat by the river, and we saw someone’s dog stalk and kill a fat white pigeon.  It was pretty unsettling, but the bird never stood a chance.  So c’est la vie!