"Teacher, teacher!"

I LOVE SCHOOL!!!!!!!!----never thought I’d say that again. Today was my first day as an auxiliar (language and cultural assistant) at my colegio (elementary school). I still have to get use to people referring to a colegio as an elementary school rather than a college or university. Let me step back and talk about the night before. I met up with Kate, Corrie, and Corrie’s mom for a late dinner. It was Corrie’s mum’s (Karen) last night so she wanted to go out to a nice dinner. What do you know, the restaurant they chose to go to was the one I had been to twice before. Low and behold we had the same waiter, for the third time. Haha next time I swear I’m going to ask his name and call him my best friend in Valverde. I feel like we have a connection now J So the Real Madrid game was playing the background, which was marvelous, but besides us there were only two other tables of people and this was at 10pm. This is when the Spaniards eat so I was a little confused. I know it was a Wednesday but still….

Anyways, I got pez espalda, which is swordfish, and Tinto de Verano (a hint of summer) as my drink. The fish was really good (FINALLY A GOOD CHOICE) and the drink was a combo of Sangria and wine so naturally it was delicious. We had a lovely evening and talked about our families and Spanish experiences in the past. We finally got to the topic of school in the morning. All I could say was that I couldn’t wait for it. I wasn’t nervous at all, I just wanted to get in there, meet the kids and teachers, and start earning my keep. Both Corrie and Kate where more on the nervous side and a little anxious because they were teaching at a high school and didn’t know how much Spanish was expected of them for the job. I guess because I had no expectation for the job (the first in my life, honestly) that I had nothing to be scared about. I knew it could only get better. Orientation and meeting everybody in my program for the first time stressed me out and caused me anxiety, but this not so much. After dinner Kate and Karen got coffee con leche and then the waiter (cajero) brought us complimentary shots of this caramel liquor in frozen shot glasses. It was very rich and delicious. The best part was when Karen was urging Corrie to drink the whole shot. When Corrie refused, her mum drank the shot and called her a lightweight. Haha what a role reversal. Overall it was a delightful meal and a great sendoff to the start of the next eight months in Valverde.

Cue this morning: So I showed up to school at 8:10am. All the doors were locked and the lights were off. So much for showing up early. At 8:25am the janitor named Juan (I think…. so many names today!) let me in and showed me to the staff room. I looked around and found a school year schedule so that kept me busy until people started arriving. It wasn’t until 8:45am that the first teacher showed up. I was muy temprano (very early). Well now I know. So every teacher introduced himself or herself to me and I gave them two kisses on each cheek and I told them my name and title. When Pocho, my bilingual coordinator came in she greeted me and made me meet more teachers. I consider myself very good with names but honestly they say them so fast and I only saw their faces for a short time it was just to hard to commit it all to long term memory. I think I got maybe 3 peoples name and face down.

So Pocho didn’t have time to really talk to me about the job or show me my schedule since Thursday’s are her busiest days because she has a class every period. She did have time to mention to me that I was not the only auxiliar for the school. This was VERY exciting news since it meant one more person to go out with and/or travel with. His or her name is Christen. I’m thinking it’s a girl but I just don’t know for sure. Pocho said she (I’m assuming it’s a girl) was having trouble with her Visa so she couldn’t come in. She made me send her an email to figure out when she was expected to show up and if there was anything I could do. This was my first good news of the day. It also meant that Kate and Corrie might have another potential roommate, which is great because then there rent goes down. The only bad part about Christen is that Pocho couldn’t give me a schedule of my hours at the end of the day because it depended upon her as well.

So today I did a mix of observing and helping out. At one point I was in charge and had to lead the lesson while she disciplined a student outside. Hmm, I explicitly remember my program coordinator say to us that “under no circumstance should we be teaching a class by ourselves”. Once again, that turns out not being the case. And this was day 1! It wasn’t that bad but because they were on the younger side it was hard to keep there attention with the simple task in only English. I haven’t mastered the different Spanish commands yet so once I get that down I won’t be as nervous. So today I attended two 3^rd grade classes, one 4^th grade class, and two 6^th grade classes (the oldest in the school). Already in one day I could tell the difference between the attention levels and commitment to English between the different grades. The older kids were much easier to handle and they progressed through the lessons a lot quicker. They also seemed to enjoy English as a whole better. The younger classes didn’t follow directions as easily and it took a lot more effort to get them to finish a task. BUT every class was adorable and I loved them all.

Okay so all of the kids have a twang of a British accent when they speak English, which is probably THE cutest thing I have ever heard. I already fall apart when I hear grown ups with accents but little kids are the worse. I just can’t help but smile all of the time. My favorite was this little boy who said “bye bye Erica.” It was the first time a student had talked to me. It was so precious. I know I’m really going to enjoy my job here. Every time I hear “Teacher! Teacher!” I smile. The lessons are fairly basic and it’s interesting to here how other people learn our language. For instance the younger kids are mastering the ABC’s so Pocho plays this song. It’s the ABC song I was use to so afterwards I explained to them how I learned the ABC’s. After I sang it once, the next time the kids joined in and they seemed to like it. Also, they learn British English so they say Zed instead of Zee for the letter “Z”. It’s the little things I have to get use to. I also have to work on pronouncing my words better. I think I said Maryland about a million time today but nobody could really repeat it, not even Pocho, because when I say it, it comes out sounding like “mayr/lind”. Something to practice I guess. Another thing I picked up was when the students were learning subjects, Pocho’s flashcard says “Maths” not “Math”. I thought that was strange but I didn’t say anything about it. Who am I to correct flashcards?

I guess the next best thing about today was that I have a full schedule of tutoring after school. I have someone every day of the week except Fridays’, that day stays open. At the moment on Monday and Wednesday’s I will tutor Ana (a teacher in my school that loves English) and her adult friend Paco for one hour and then Ana’s son for another hour. He has soccer practice so whenever that is over is when we will tutor. Maybe I’ll just jump right into practice with him! Hahaha just kidding at the moment. On Tuesday’s I have Pocho’s daughters Ana and Rocio for an hour and then on Thursday’s I have Ana’s sister children Ana and Rocio for an hour. That is quite the full schedule and I didn’t even have to advertise. The adults and most of the children are looking for conversation rather grammar, which I think is better for me in terms of prepping and being able to help correct. I don’t even know/remember half of the grammatical rules in English so this is going to require a lot of extra work on my part as well. I can’t just show up at their houses and just talk. I have to have a lesson prepared and materials to help aid them. Tutoring makes me a little nervous but I think after the first week I’ll get a hang of it and be able to enjoy the sessions. Plus man, this is extra cash in my bank. Can you say traveling money??? Ca-ching!! I did the math and I think it comes out to 100 Euros a week based on my pricing for different ages. I’m just looking at the number now and that’s REDIC! That would come out to 200-300 Euros a month, times 8 = and that’s anywhere between 1600-2400 extra Euros. : D

So I actually have to go because I’m having coffee at Pocho’s house this afternoon to meet her kids and husband. I’m excited. This is day one of school and I’m already building up a network of friends within this town for years to come. I think this is what it feels like to be on cloud nine? I can say this has been the best day in Spain so far. Okay Lemon out. (30 rock, Google it)

p.s just had my first on the street encounter with one of my students. The first of many I hope!

Pictures of Valverde

Valverde del Camino

It’s just like home, but with a fork

Even though I’ve only spent a few days in Valverde I already feel like I know a lot about the place. For starters, I stumbled upon the local hot spot, and by hot spot I mean it’s the place to be if you are over 75 years old. There is this fountain with two statues of men making leather boots (I’ll get there) right across the street from my school. It’s the center of a three street intersection and there are a couple of benches. Kate and I sat there for a while and over time all of these elder people came from all corners of town to sit and chat. We got the vibe that we weren’t wanted/we were taking someone’s seat, so we left. It was pretty cool but it felt like a legit elderly clique.

Next, I’ve discovered that all of the trees that line the sidewalks up and down Valverde are lime trees. I picked a few to juggle with (like the circus not like soccer juggle though I’m sure they would work). How cute is that? One less item on my shopping list. Speaking of shopping, in the grocery stores whenever you buy any kind of produce, vegetables, or anything that requires a plastic bag you need to individually weigh the item and then remember the individual code number, type it in, and place a sticker on your bag. Nobody told us this until we were checking out. It took us awhile to figure out what they were asking us to do and how we were suppose to it, but eventually we figured it out. It makes sense if you think about it, its one less thing the checkout person has to do at the register and it saves time.

Another thing I stumbled upon on Saturday was the soccer stadium in town. The field is named after the barrio in which it was built in, Triana. I couldn’t get a sense of whether the teams getting ready to play a game where two high school teams or just club teams in the town. I wanted to stay and watch because I was pretty sure it was free but once again I got weird looks for being the only girl interested in soccer who wasn’t a girlfriend or mother. After I settle in and learn about what that league is exactly I’ll go back and watch a match or two. I need my futbol fix. Also in Triana barrio is a night club called Club Blue. It is the only nightclub we have found in town yet we were told that Valverde has a great nightlife from Kate’s teachers who were referring to the old Language assistants from last year. The only warning they gave us is that you see all of your students there so it can be a little uncomfortable at times. That won’t be a problem for me J

The last thing I found in town reminded me of home. It was this bar (restaurant) called Boston Burger! The majority of the menu was burger, fries, and a drink combo named after American cities (New York, Miami—that’s what I got, Chicago…). The place also had pasta, sandwiches, and more food that I was familiar with. FINALLY A MENU I CAN READ! I was overjoyed with the place even before I got my food. I was so excited that I asked for a carry out menu and I wrote there number in my phone :P The best part about the meal was that it only cost 2.50 or 3 Euros…muy barrato!!! We really got a kick out of the fact that they served us French fries in a square basket with a fork. If it comes with a fork I’ll use a fork.

For those of you that don’t know, which is probably all of you, Valverde is know for its fine quality of leather, specifically leather boots. I guess you all know what your birthday/Hanukkah presents are going be for the next year now. Anyways, all the stores carry boots and at a really cheap price. If anyone is looking for something in particular let me know. Wallet, boots, hat, purse, whatever…. I’ll snap a picture of it, email it to you, and then proceed from there.

The last thing that I’ve discovered in Valverde is another Language and Cultural Assistant from England. Her name is Corrie and she works at Kate’s high school. We met her on Sunday. She and her mom (lucky duck!!!) came together and are staying in a small hotel in another small town near by. They rented a car and were nice enough to give us a lift back to Huelva instead of us having to take the bus. Corrie is only 20 and is from Chester, England it’s a pretty big city very close to Manchester. Unfortunately she is a ManU fan but I won’t hold it against her. She is taking a year off from St. Andrew’s in Scotland (I have two friends at the school from the US) to teach in Spain. She spent 6 weeks in Punta Umbria (the beach close to Huelva) this summer as an au pair. She said it really helped her understand the Andalucía accent better but she still has a tough time with it. I really like her and I can’t wait to get to know her better. The best part is she said we could travel to Manchester together and her family could pick me up from the airport. This is going to be marvelous!!!! She was truly a breath of fresh air. Meeting her made me feel better about being stuck here in Valverde. Most of the good friends I made during orientation are in Sevilla or in Huelva so now I feel like I’ll finally have a good friend here.

I guess I’ll end this post with my experience applying for the Permiso de Residencia (residency card). So Kate and I spent the night over at our friend Claire’s place in Huelva the night before because no bus leaves Valverde in time the next morning. The Oficina de Extranjeros doesn’t open until 9am but we were advised by our program coordinator that we should get there super early. I originally wanted to get there by 7:30am but Claire and Lawrence (another guy from the group) thought we’d be okay if we got there by 8am. Well we woke up at 6:45am, left at 7:20am and walked a good 45 minutes to the Oficina. When we got there around either there was already a long line going both ways from the main doors. One line said “Con Cita” while the other said “Sin Cita”; obviously we had no idea what a cita was so we got in the line with “sin cita”. Sat on the ground and waited until the doors finally opened at 9:15am. Once the doors opened some policemen came out and started going down the line and asking questions. Suddenly we noticed a lot of people in our line getting out of line and heading to the end of the line. We were a little scared that they would do that to us but they asked what country we were from and after we said USA they left us alone. We went from a good 30 people in front of us to 7. The only catch was the “con cita” line was people who had appointments made and that line was allowed to go in while our line didn’t move for another thirty minutes. The never-ending cita line was starting to get to us but finally the policeman started letting people from our line through. Once we were inside we had to go through a security check just like in airports. After that we were in another line where a lady asked why we were here. After she saw our passports we told to go through the other entrance. We made our way through the other door and talked with another man. He looked at our papers and gave us our very own “cita” with a date to come back. Sigh, all the waiting and we had to come back another day (October 8^th specifically) to have them look at our papers, give us a receipt that we can then present to the banks, and come back another day to physically pick up our residency card. Wowy, it’s a long process. We were happy that it only really took us an hour or so to go through the line once the doors opened, but next time it should go quicker since we have the much-needed cita. I mean it could have been a lot worse and we were just happy to get it over with. The other ten people in our group have to discover this process tomorrow. I know they won’t be happy but there isn’t much they can do about. All right my landlord is coming to mi casa at 4pm to fix mi televisor so yo tengo correr. Adios mi gente!

Pictures of my place

Mi Casa de Valverde

Mi casa es su casa (for now)

Hola amigas y amigos. I have finally moved into my apartment and have completely unpacked. It is an amazing feeling. The only thing that would make it better is if my friend Kate had found a place and still wasn't living in my room. I like my space and I need it. Two more days tops and I should get my room back. So as I promised here is an album dedicated to my new crib. I hope this embedded slideshow thing works. If not I will post a link to the album at the bottom. Anywho, so after completely unpacking the only casualty I had was my brand new, completely full foot lotion from Israel. It exploded all over my travel kit and got every other lotion bottle and bathroom necessity covered in mint lotion. It wasn't the end of the world but I was a tad disappointed that i wasn't able to salvage any of it. Oh well Birthday present right????!?! Just kidding. Being in Valverde during the weekend was an interesting experience. There isn't a lot of people walking around and again most of the stores are closed. I looked into a few bars and saw a soccer match being played so I walked in expecting to find a stool or table and just enjoy the game. Wrong, the place was completely packed with men and when i stepped inside they all turned around and starred out me. Talk about a welcoming environment. Wow, i slowly reversed my steps and exited. I tried this in two other bars and got the exact same reaction. Hurumph! Well I was convinced that the restaurant that I had eaten at twice would have the game on since it did the first time I ate in there. Well just my luck nobody was in the restaurant and the tv was turned to the top 50 music videos. Don't get me wrong we stayed and watched all 50 music videos because we were bored, but I was really disappointed that I wasn't able to watch any futbol this weekend. I would have watched it in my own house but our tv is on the fritz and it won't be fixed till Monday (today).

My second obstacle of the day was carrying my groceries up the hill to my house. I was stupid enough to buy water bottles and few heavier items and had to huff and puff m way up the hill. I had to stop four times to reposition the bags. It was not fun but i learned my lesson and now i plan to bring a mini suitcase with me when i go shopping. Another problem occurred in my kitchen. Kate decided to buy a pre-made pizza and put it in the oven. Well turns out I don't have an oven. hahah i guess i just didn't notice it when i saw the kitchen in the first place. We improvised and used the stove. I guess if i want to bake any chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, or lemon poppy seed muffins, I'll have to go to Kate's future apartment. Shucks. Well the first night in the new place went pretty well. I have a double bed that is really comfy (HURRAAYYY! In Argentina i had the worst bed ever and didn't sleep well for a month, no joke) so i got a great nights sleep. I wasn't exactly sure how to turn on the hot water so i opted not to take a shower and wait for Elisa (my new Spanish roommate) to come home and teach me. The last problem I encountered was the shades of the windows. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to put them down. The only reason I was really bothered by that was because i had them up in my bathroom and was afraid that people could see in. (Once Elisa came home she showed me how to do it and I felt like an idiot because its really easy).

So on Sunday Kate and I decided to try and hit up the internet cafe a the Youth House in the city center. Well I thought I knew where it was and I ended up passing it twice before I finally recognized the building. As usual, the place is closed on Sunday's so we had to go a second day with out internet. We attempted to sit on people's stoop and pick up a WiFi (in Spanish its WEE-FEE) signal but alas everyone was locked. Curse those Spaniards and there passwords. Our next mission was to do another grocery shop since we only had a few things left. Yup, you guessed it the Mercadona (Supermarket) was closed on Sunday's. Feeling defeated and a tad annoyed we went to a new little cafe on the way to my apartment and had some lunch. I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try some new foods. Well it turns out i ordered a very mayo potato-ish salad (I don't like potato salad) and unfortunately fried cuddle fish. OOPS. I tried the Choco Frito (fish) but I just wasn't having it. So I ended up paying 5 euros for an empty stomach. I learned my lesson. Stick to the basics until someone recommends a dish that I might like. throughout the day we heard this flute player but we could never figure out where it was coming from. When we sat down to eat lunch we finally figured out it was coming from this car. He was blasting this flute music as he drove throughout town. I have no idea what it was all about but i intend to find out.

In conclusion, small towns like Valverde are useless on Sunday's. Sunday's are the best days to go to the beach (Punta Umbria) or the city (Huelva, Sevilla) or to nap, tan, or exercise. Duly noted. The Youth House closes at 8pm and its 7:31pm so I'll wrap it up and post a new entry tomorrow. I still have lots to say hahah for once. Next blog I'll introduce Corrie from Chester, England!!!!! :)