J'aime Paris!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were holidays from school so, seeing as I don't work on Fridays, this made a 6 day weekend for moi! It would be silly not to take advantage of this travel time while located in close proximity to dozens of other countries, right? Of course! I took full advantage of this opportunity to join Kim and Dianne (other Seattlites here for the same position) in Paris. Reasons for doing so: 1) Paris is amazing. 2) Paris snows in December. 3) Aurore et Ines habitent la! 4) Crepes are delicious. 5) French is a beautiful language. 6) I will stop here because I'm sure you're already starting to lose interest...

Good news is, even on the third go around, I still absolutely adore the people, the food and the city. Bad news is, Spain's air traffic controllers decided to go on strike the Friday that everyone in this country was planning to fly out for vacay! WTF?!? I mean, great way to make their point but it meant that Kim and Dianne were unable to join me! It made for an extra night at Aurore's apartment (whose roommate was generous enough to lend me her bed) and a few nights booked last minute at a hostel. I actually really liked the neighborhood my hostel was in so it was absolutely fine with me!

I'm a big fan of just wandering around foreign cities until I can no longer stand to take another step, so the alone time was rather nice. Here are some highlights so I don't bore you with the details...
1) I actually waited in the insanely long line outside of the Louvre primarily because I had to pee and it was the nearest bathroom. Don't worry, I wandered around one wing of the museum while I was there, said hey to Mona (as in Lisa), she's doing aight. Sick of all the tourists though. Seriously, she told me with her "mystic smile." "Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? Or is this your way to mend a broken heart?" If you don't know Seal's version of "Mona Lisa" you should obviously check it out on iTunes.
2) One of the nights I treated myself to a delicious meal that consisted of Duck Confit with garlic potatoes, red wine and chocolate mousse that was so thick it might as well have been called a big bowl of soft fudge! Delicious!
3) It is December. This means Christmas markets everywhere! This means easier access to crepes than normal and a plentiful amount of mulled wine (both of which can be seen in my hands on your right). So nice on a cold day!
4) Finally got to see the catacombs! It's crazy how many people are essentially piled in there. The spiral staircases to get in and out almost killed me though. haha. So dizzying and my lungs almost exploded on the way back up. Sooooo many stairs!
5) I got to see Marie Curie's tomb and tell Aurore all about Dinosaurs at the special exhibit in the Natural History Museum. Science for the win!
6) Ate some seriously delicious frozen pizza. Who knew it was possible?
7) Eiffel Tower in the snow! Need I say more?

Sure, there was more to my 6 day weekend but we'll leave it at these select few details for now. I only had one day of school this week so not much to update there...guess we'll have to move to this weekend!

Today, Bert, Jen and I went to a small market that a friend from home had told us about. I guess she's still on some e-mail lists from when she lived in Spain awhile ago so she forwarded one to us. It had some cool stuff. I got a natural chapstick that's housed inside of an acorn shell...so cool! Bert got a belt made entirely of bike wheel parts.

Afterward, it was our intention to head toward a rock and gem show (yes, that was my suggestion, thanks for checking). We went to the general neighborhood and then looked for a place to eat before going to the show. In the end, we ended up at a cider place. Drank some cider. Ate some delicious food. Then on our way out, some of the waiters invited us to join them for drinks on their break before the dinner rush. We decided "heck, why not?" and followed them to their local spot. After three rounds (none of which we paid for), they had to go back to work and we had to continue with our nerdy plan. Things went awry when we stumbled upon a Christmas market with tons of delicious food (much of which was being sampled). I ate what was literally the best doughnut of my life (and then proceeded to buy more for home). We also got some freakin' delicious cheeses, coffee creme tasty adult beverage, rosemary coated sausage, raspberry cheesecake, chocolate cream filled cupcakes, macaroons, and I think that's all. Man, soooo good!

By the time we were done buying out the market, it was too late to hit the rock and gem show so that'll have to wait 'til tomorrow. However, we made up for it by eating the delicious cheeses, making mulled wine and watching Love Actually (one of the best movies of all time). 

Tomorrow we're going to the Renoir exhibit at the Prado with Imilce and a few of her friends. Great way to practice our Espanglish skills! After, I'll be in a rock and gem wonderland! At least I hope so... The Bellingham show is really lame, but Everett's is really awesome so I guess it totally depends on the place. Come on Madrid, don't fail me now!

Lastly, I need to edit my final paper for the semester. I also need to apply for next summer's courses. I really want to go to Namibia...but so does everyone else. Darn it! Guess we'll just have to wait and see where I get placed. If you're interested in science, inquiry based education or travel, you should probably check out the Master's program that I'm in. You've still got time to turn in an app to start this summer! http://www.projectdragonfly.org/gfp/index.php Click the "Earth Expeditions" link to see details on the possible locations for your summer class! Oh, did I mention that tuition is waved?!?!

I have decided that I really admire Sophia Bush (actress). Like, REALLY REALLY. She is doing some fantastic things with her life and for the rest of the world. Her last blog post begins with the following paragraph, "It's no secret to any of you who pay attention to what I'm up to that I am incredibly passionate about the environment. Sometimes my 'green tweets' are overwhelming, I know. But I cannot suppress my passion for the earth. And neither should you. We live here! And we've got to take care of this place. After all, it's a pretty amazing planet." She's totally not kidding! For some really neat Christmas gift ideas that help support others in need, check the rest of her post at http://www.sophiabush.com/blog/

Sophia and her boyfriend (also an actor), Austin Nichols, have just run a marathon to raise money for the oil spill in the gulf. Not only that, they have also put together a compilation CD to help with clean up as well. If you like indie music or just like supporting your planet, check the album out on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/gasoline-rainbows/id403806086). Since there are no CDs being produced (all sales are digital) 100% of the sales are going to an organization called Global Green, which gives this money straight to the community. Some of the bigger companies use a huge percentage of their donations to pay for things like salaries and electric bills, but not Global Green. The media has moved on but the BP oil spill is still a serious issue for the animals and people living near the gulf. 
If you're interested in giving straight donations or seeing a video of Sophia and Austin's visit to the gulf, you can do so at http://www.crowdrise.com/globalgreengulfreliefsophia/fundraiser/rachelrowland. If you are a music Grinch and you happen to hate donating money without receiving something in return, perhaps you should check out their t-shirt design at Veritas. $15 will be donated to their cause for each shirt purchased. Check it out: http://www.liveveritas.com/products/Servo_Aequora-185-2.html


Not to sound needy and too do-goody, but the Belize Zoo, a non-profit where I spent quite a bit of time during my class in Belize this past summer, has been struck by a hurricane. Thankfully no animals or people were seriously injured but the enclosures have been essentially destroyed. Check their website for before and after photos (or to make a sweet donation! *hint hint*) at http://belizezoo.org/ Pictured below is my dear friend Junior Buddy. He does tricks! Cats don't so much do tricks so he's pretty bad ass! 

 

Alright, enough for now! Must go to sleep!

The holiday season begins...

Alright, things have been looking up lately! Wow, aside from the fact that I had 3 mind blowing sneezes (literally, and not in a good way) in a row just now. The bilingual department meeting are at least in Spanglish now instead of entirely in Spanish. Students have started to respect us as actual teachers a bit more than before (not all of them, however). We've been cooking delicious food at home that involves no pork products whatsoever. The science teacher thinks all of my ideas are made of gold and wants me to teach her everything I know. I taught an entire science lesson and it didn't totally bomb. In fact, it might have been more like "the bomb" than a bomb. Nice!

Here are some cultural differences about Spain/U.S. that I have noted recently. First, there is an utter lack of what I like to call "floor pencils", here in Spain. When I student taught in the U.S. last year (with the same age group that I'm working with here), I was able to collect about 10-15 pencils and other writing utensils off the floor at the end of each day. When students asked to borrow a pencil, the only ones I ever supplied were recycled floor pencils. Why bother providing new school supplies when the items on the floor work just as well? Whenever I ran out of floor pencils and a student would ask for a pencil, I would suggest that they check the floor. They always looked at me as if I was crazy. Little did they know, this is where every single pencil I ever lent out had come from! I guess they are much better about using pencil pouches here.

Secondly, the greetings here are much different than at home. For instance, a shop owner might say something along the lines of "hello beautiful, what would you like?" and that is totally normal. To us, the greeting "hello beautiful" by a complete stranger warrants a slap in the face or at least walking away from the offender. Here, totally fine! They also do a peck on each cheek as both hello and goodbye greetings (not the shop owners, only someone you've actually been introduced to). Sometimes, however, it is two kisses on each cheek. Man, I've made awkward blunders a number of times with this one! It's a bit strange if you are pulling away while someone else is leaning in to kiss your cheek! On the other hand, it's a bit strange to have a stranger's face pressed against your own upon first meeting! Sometimes I find myself extending a hand to do the standard American handshake, but then I look like a fool because this is not normal and seems very standoffish to the folks here.

Last weekend, we had a group of 10 of us at our apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful! The food was fantastic and we managed to have a lot of gluten-free dishes that my roommate, Bert, could eat (she has celiacs). I couldn't have asked for a better substitute for a family Thanksgiving.

On Thursday I got to chat with my family via Skype while they were all gathered at my aunt and uncle's house. I'm pretty sure the advanced video chat technology blew my grandma's mind! She actually said, and I quote, "It's like you're a real person!" At this, I wanted to throw in some brilliant Pinocchio quote like, "I am a real boy!" but I decided not to confuse her since Skype is already far beyond her mental and technological capabilities!

Tonight (Saturday), I went to another Thanksgiving dinner hosted by folks from Jen's church. It was fun but the food wasn't nearly as good as the meal at our place. However, it was lovely having Imilce (the daughter of our landlords) and a couple of her friends join us. I love when you never know what language will be spoken at any giving moment! We speak Espanglish very well! There was also a bit of Sign Language and French thrown in, because Spanish and English would be far too simple, right?

Apparently my Spanish has been improving since I arrived in Madrid (sans class, might I add). Imilce told me so, so it must be true! Also, I've had a number of students tell me that I speak Spanish very well. Granted, I'm never supposed to speak anything but English with them, so they probably shouldn't know this detail but oh well! I do think that I'm speaking faster than when I arrived (which implies that I have to think far less mid-sentence) but I'm not sure that my vocabulary is growing as much as it could. I just started reading "La telarana de Carlota" (aka Charlotte's Web) in Spanish. The students at Bert's school just finished reading the English version so I was able to borrow an English copy. This way I can read it in Spanish and when I get stuck on a word, I can simply look at the English version for guidance. Yes, I do realize that this a children's book but I don't care! I'm still proud of myself for reading it. Peter Pan and Harry Potter are both still a little above my head when it comes to Spanish vocab and verb tenses so I'm hoping to work up to those levels! Adult books are probably out of the picture for now...or forever?

Imilce's parents (aka our landlords) are out of town for a few days so she's having a bunch of friends over for lunch tomorrow. The three of us, Jen, Bert and I, are invited! I'm excited! More Espanglish!!! We also need to put up our Christmas decorations soon. We bought a *cough cough* fake tree. Whatever, our apartment may not smell like forest but we'll still have loads of holiday cheer and a kickass holiday party come December!

Well, that's all the scattered thoughts I have for now! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and for those of you in areas with snow, I hope you enjoyed the white holiday blanket! I'm off to Paris for a few days next weekend where it has just snowed also! Thank goodness for Spanish holidays...I don't exactly know which one but no matter because I get to go to France! So EXCITED!!! I get to see Aurore et Ines! They are such sweet gals!

The good.

It's time to ignore the bad and the ugly. Tis time to pull me head outta me arse and focus on the good for a change! I've been a bit of a Debbie Downer lately which means that, statistically speaking, I'm right on track! When people move away from home and the life that they know, there is a lull a couple of months in. This is the point where you call home in tears, question what the heck you were thinking and consider hopping on the next plane back to the land of the familiar. Done, done and done (thinking about, not actually doing). Now here I am cresting over the hill and awaiting the joyous carefree ride ahead.

I spent all but half of a day last week in bed because I was sick. After that nice rejuvinating experience, I came back to school on Monday with a new attitude. I needed a break from the school for a little while so it turns out the nasty sickness inducing metro germs were actually a bit of a blessing. On a side note, people totally sneeze into their hands and then put them right back on the handrails. Gross! Not only do they leave germs, they leave physical smears of saliva! Back to the topic at hand...

Here are some positives from this week:

• Our bilingual program staff meeting, although only a couple minutes long, was in English! It's like they're starting to consider the fact that we're actually people AND a part of the department. Cool!
• Without wearing makeup or even brushing my hair, I had 3 students compliment my appearance in one day. One of them is known as a "bad girl," which I tend not to believe about any students, so it was especially nice to hear something good from her. "You look...Que es guapa?...beautiful!" It's little things like this that give me constant reminders that even those who are considered bad have a lot of good in them. 
• Instead of working on her art assignment, one of my students was told by the other teacher to practice speaking English with me instead. I love the days when this happens! I especially love when it becomes my job to chat with this girl in particular. Our students, as I mentioned previously, are divided into different classrooms based on their ability levels, 'A' being the bilingual, well behaved, "good" kids down to 'E', the Spanish speaking misfits who are nothing but "bad." They were given one single test last year that determined their placement this year. Do bad on that test and you're stuck in a level where you don't belong for 2 years before you can retake it. This girl is in 'D', second from the bottom. It kind of breaks my heart because she is hands down one of the most conversationally fluent in English of any of the classes. She also likes English even more than she likes Spanish, she reads books in English at home, she listens to songs in English and her favorite subject in school? You guessed it! English! Luckily, she was able to move to a different group for English class, but she is not able to take science and other subjects in English, like the 'A' group can. In this broken system, it's not just the 'bad kids' that are suffering by being left behind, there are also students like this one who have been misplaced and are falling behind just the same. This goes the other way too though, there are students in 'A' who are totally lost because they do not have the language comprehension ability to have every subject taught in English. They are going to slip farther and farther behind their peers throughout the year because of these placements. GRRR!!!
• The science teacher I am working with told me that she loves that every time we meet she gets all these great ideas and wants to try all sorts of new things! She's really excited about assigning roles for group work and doing more team oriented stuff which will be really good for these kiddos. 
• Our teacher lessons have progressed to the point where talking about drug use, homosexual relationships and drinking is totally normal in our classroom activities. It's nice to have a laid back atmosphere where we can practice English but almost feel like friends having a good time instead of teachers and students. 
• Bert (one of my roommates) and I have made some pretty delicious meals that involved absolutely no pork. I have to get excited about the little things!
• It rained and looked a lot like Seattle. 
• I have been given permission to do a conservation project with my students (which is excellent because it's my homework and a have to do it). I was actually worried that I would not be able to complete the assignment if I was not allowed to do it during school.
• There is talk of a few classes getting involved with schools in other countries to talk about renewable resource projects and ideas.
• Got to sing Shakira's "Waka Waka" in class today. Yeah, don't be jealous. My music class is pretty awesome.
• The ultimate "bad boy" who does not even own the English text book yet (mind you, it's mid-November) actually participated in class today for most of the period! Holy crap!!! You have no idea how happy this makes me! Granted, he had to borrow the other teacher's textbook and I'm pretty sure he threw his notes in the garbage on the way out of class, but he was involved in the discussion, raised his hand and didn't totally distract the rest of the students. Major improvement! I think letting him doodle and openly appreciating his artistic abilities a couple weeks ago really helped us bond a bit. He did draw a wicked Van Gogh...during class...instead of participating in that lesson. Hey, you've gotta start somewhere. If letting him draw for one class period instead of paying attention makes him respect me for the rest of the year, it was totally worth it!

Going to the Vampire Weekend concert tomorrow night! Possibly shopping and room cleaning tomorrow earlier in the day? Ha! Sure...

For now, I think I'm going to watch a movie with the Spanish subtitles on. Hey, it's better than not studying at all!

Bread, Cheese, Wine...and haaaaam.

The title of this post reflects the four food groups that can be found in Madrid (the first three I am consuming currently and the last of which I constantly find myself trying to avoid). I've already begun to contemplate whether I will go into pork withdrawals upon vacating Madrid or I will be so thoroughly overjoyed I won't know what to do with myself. It's a tough call. Even crappy things (like an excessive amount of pig products) can give you nostalgic value so who knows. Take songs for instance, there are ones I don't particularly enjoy for the sound but they never cease to make me sigh and smile simply because they remind me of someone or something that I do love. Although U.S. music is fairly common in Spain, I can't help but get a little bit giddy whenever I hear a song playing in English. For instance, yesterday an overly remixed version of an already upbeat Ke$ha song came on in one the stores while I was shopping (turns out you should bring more than 2 pairs of jeans and umm...no jackets when you move to Madrid) and I started glowing! The same sensation just occurred when "Give Me Just One Night, Una Noche" by 98 degrees came on my iTunes, but this time it's because there are a few words in Spanish! Music has profound affects on me. In my mind, a good singer is one who has the ability to bring tears to my eyes by belting a few words.

On that note, I saw Train in concert a couple of weekends ago and the lead singer turned off his mic for a bit so we could hear is voice in a more pure fashion. Let me tell you Soul Sisters, it was fantastic! Also, it pays to see "big bands" in foreign countries because we were in a bar with Train a few measly feet from us! Holy smokes! Got to meet the lead singer and chat with the bassist for a bit after the show. It was quite lovely.

Let's rewind a few hours before the concert to Barcelona... Such an awesome city! Jen and I stayed in the Gothic district surrounded by tons of tiny shops, winding streets, museums and the waterfront only a few blocks away. We went to the Picasso Museum followed by Picasso's fave restaurant (4 Gatos), waded at the beach (with a totally naked old man sunning within view...), toured one of Gaudi's buildings, saw one of my fave street performing bands (Made in Barcelona) do a set, ate delicious food (trust me, this is huge!), etc... It was an awesome weekend but there is still so much to see! We'll have to go back again soon.

The following weekend I went to England for my cousin's wedding. Alright, she's probably more like my 2nd cousin twice removed but that's way too confusing! Anyway, it was lovely seeing that side of my family. Since we live so far apart, our visits are also far apart. I even got to meet more "cousins" that I didn't know I had. I spent over 24 hours straight with Gracie before we realized we were related! My little nephew is growing into the cutest boy and so big! He's a gem!

School is going alright. I'll try not to go into too much boring detail, but it's a fairly dysfunctional school system. The school is tracked beyond belief, this means that the smart kids are in the highest class and the "stupid" ones are in the lowest. With this style of classroom divisions comes a greater widening of the gap between the highest and lowest levels with each school year. In general the academically advanced get the better teachers, are pushed harder, have higher expectations set for them, and the lower students have just the opposite. Plus, they are not given the opportunity to be surrounded by students who care, offer inciteful ideas and push their peers to do well. Granted, this is a huge generalization, but statistics don't lie THAT much. Tracking can cause huge problems in education. Then again, I was an A.P. student at a mostly white school so I fear that I may have reaped the benefits of this system without knowing it. My students took one single test to be placed within the 5 classrooms (A being the best, E being the worst) at their grade level. This test was partially (if not fully) based on their English abilities. If they have learning disabilities, were tired/nervous, or having a bad day on the day of the test, they are now trapped in a level where they don't belong for 2 year until the test is administered again. I have students in the D group who can speak to me in better English and have more enthusiasm for the language than many of my students in the A group. Can someone please explain the logic to me on that one? I really wish we could mix the groups for at least a few subjects but very little exchange is going on.

Teachers yelling at kids is getting better but that's a whole different beast. During our English lessons for teachers, we have been trying to include some topics of education in our vocab practice, readings, etc... Hopefully our subtle hints will start to sink in. I know some already have, which makes me feel like it's worth trying over and over until we see a difference in teaching methods.

One thing that I find hard to adjust to, is the fact that teachers change room between classes, not the students! It makes the halls far less noisy and chaotic, but it severely limits what you can do in class. At my school there are no computers, projectors, maps, etc... in the classrooms so if a teacher needs any sort of supplies for their lesson, they have to carry it from room to room. Again, this severely limits what you can do in class!

I think I am going to help plan a trip to London for my students. It will hopefully fulfill one of my assignments for grad school as well as give the students and myself a chance to experience an awesome city and all that it has to offer. My hope is that the trip will be available to all of the student groups so anyone who genuinely wants to learn English will have the chance, not just the ones that are viewed as "the good kids." Man, usually the "bad kids" are my favorite. They have more character and aren't afraid to be real.

Let's see... Next weekend I am going to Valencia which looks beautiful. I've never been, so this will be a new adventure for me! I'm also babysitting a 4th and an 8th grader overnight on Monday. They seem like awesome kids so I'm excited to spend some time with them. I think that's all for major updates?

Sorry, I'm not a fan of journaling which is essentially what blogging is. That's why I'm pretty awful at actually updating this thing! I'll try to do better...sort of.

Love to all!

We are here!

Hola! Estamos en Espana!

Our venture began on a positive note, coffee shops open and no charge at the airport for our second HUGE piece of luggage. Que bueno! Saved a whopping $50 right there! We arrived in Spain with no problems, checked into our hostel and set out to see some apartments. The first was alright but had scary stairs that allow you to peer down the chasam of doom that goes all the way to the basement. "No thank you" says I, the girl who is afraid of heights. The second was a no show and the third canceled before our appointment because someone else decided they wanted it. One for three isn't THAT bad.

Tuesday we had a meeting to discuss what our job will actually be. Apparently we are sort of aides to the English teachers because they have never taught their subjects in a foreign language and may need some guidance. Plus, who better to help kids learn English than those of us who mumble and make up words!

Thursday I was able to visit the town where I will be working! It's really cute and the school in very new (this is only the 2nd year in that building). It turns out I will only be with students about 16 hours/week and helping the teachers with their English another 2 hour/week (assuming that they have time which is something that teachers often do not have).

Yesterday we met an awesome family who just moved here from Georgia. We actually met them in the one Vodafone (phone/internet company) store that has an employee who speaks English fairly well and that is why we were all there. Seems that English is actually rather rare around Madrid! This employee is a hot commodity, let me tell ya! Anyway, I might be able to pick up some babysitting because they have a 5th grader and 8th grader (who happens to love Glee)! They seem great so I hope that works out.

Aside from one lady who wouldn't even let me ask a question before she said "I don't know", the most amazing apartment in the entire world EVER getting stolen by someone else, the eggs and asparagus that was actually 50% fungus (otherwise known as mushrooms), and me getting forgotten by our entire group for a lunch, things have been great.

My favorite so far was the little old lady who told Jen and I that we were cute, kind and strong and to watch out for Spanish men. Because she had such great things to say about us, we offered her some of our massive plate of cured cheese before she left. This is my favorite part, she picked up a piece, broke it in half and put one half back on our plate. She then smiled, said thank you and walked on as if it is totally normal to touch other people's food and put it back on their plates. Awesome! I think I'm going to like it here.

The apartment hunt is a bit brutal but after a little while we'll probably get less picky and just settle on something tolerable.

I'll post some pictures soon!

And so it begins...

It appears that I have now joined the world of blogging! As you know, I leave for Spain in about a week (depending on when our passports complete-with-visas arrive) so some sort of technological tool for keeping in touch seemed necessary. I will try my best to keep this sweet thang up to date but I will be starting my first year of teaching on Sept 15th, plus I'm in school still! Silly me! So, I guess what I mean to say is that I'm not going to make any false promises that this will be updated every Monday and Friday, because I'd probably just be lying to you. It will be updated when something awesome and totally newsworthy occurs in my life, I am procrastinating, I am bored or I realize that has been "a little too long" since my last post. How's that for commitment?!