skype to the rescue

Friday.....the last day of the week. And what a week its been. Monday is a national Holiday so I'm planning on taking a trip to Portugal this weekend. Pictures to follow I promise.

At school I had a full day of school prepping for other classes. I had to created an activity incorporating the 5 senses and then one incorporating the food pyramid. It really doesn't take me long to create a worksheet once i know the topic of the unit and the goal of the sheet. Pocho is always so impressed when i finish producing a worksheet within a hour or two. she says it takes her a long time to create anything on the internet. I pride myself on being diligent and hard working so was glad to have gotten both activities finished before the weekend. That allows me to focus on my tutoring sessions for the rest of the weekend.

After school i had a session with three 7 year olds. Marta, Maria, and Diego. They were mostly cooperative but they liked to speak Spanish and I had to keep repeating "Solo Ingles o no habla!" I got through all of my activities with good time and i think i was pretty well prepared for this session. they really liked looking at my pictures that I had brought from home so I'm excited to share with them all the goodies i brought. Those pictures were just the beginning. When i showed Diego that pictures from the World Cup his face lit up and he got so excited. It was the first time my World Cup pictures got the reaction I was looking for. After the session was over I even played a little soccer with him as we waited for his parents. Also, once again Toni offered me food. This time in the form of birthday cake from her daughter's birthday the day before. She told me that her mother had brought it but that it was coffee cake and little kids don't like coffee so nobody had really eaten it. I asked for a small piece and she loaded me up with a tupperware container full of it haha. She is just to kind. I enjoyed the session with the kids but because it is on a Friday I think I'm going to have to pawn it off to Corrie a little later. Boohoo. Alright my time at the internet cafe is nearing its end and I've had it up to hear with all the slamming of ping pong paddles. As i wrote this one boy came in and just starred at my computer screen as I typed. I was like "can i help you?" He introduced himself and asked where I was from and then exited. Okay??!! I gotta skype, hasta luego!

Draw the Line

“My head is spinning and I can’t hear your voice…” finally a new song to listen too. Thank you back to school free playlist from iTunes. It is Thursday and I have successfully completed six tutoring sessions this week with only one more tomorrow, regrettably. It is really hard to describe to someone that even though I have all this free time on Friday I simply do not want a tutoring session on that day. May failure to stick up for myself as lead me to have a tutoring session with three 7 year old kids for an hour. It is money in the bank (I’ve been saying that a lot lately) but I’m either going to pawn this session off to Corrie or cancel it all together because I would like one free day. It really isn’t that much to ask for.

I told you about my Monday tutoring sessions so now I’ll fill you in with the rest. So Tuesday I had another full day of school. I worked on finishing my poster for the 4^th grade about Healthy Habits, I attended three classes, and played a little with the kids at recess. I had fun teaching the 1^st graders body parts with Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and coloring different parts of the body with crayons. I then assisted Inma in a 4^th grade art class. They were working on shading and adding texture to drawings. I really wanted to grad a pencil and paper and make the drawing myself but alas I had a job to do. I had to walk around and tell kids that they were doing a good job. It was a little mindless and not that interactive unfortunately but I’m starting to pick up more names of kids. At recess this one girl, Teresa, came up to me and asked a few things in English. She was the first student to do that. She speaks very well and seems to understand English as well. The next day I discovered that we live on the same street, just a few doors down, and that her dad is the Math teacher that Kate has to work with. He was very friendly as well. Kate told me that he asked Kate to tutor Teresa in English. I was a little bummed that I missed out on that one, but I can’t handle any more sessions. Pocho mentioned that she had some old books leftover from Kayla (the previous language assistant). At first I was thinking they were grammar books for English tutoring so I was pumped but then I found out they were Spanish grammar books. This turned out to be a good thing because I wanted my grammar book form college sent to me, but now I don’t need it.

Also it was quite curious that within the pile of books was the novel Dracula. It was some kind of sign from above that I should continue my slight obsession with vampires. I never use to like scary things like vampires (or scary things in general, I walked out of Men In Black because it was too much for me, true story) but when I saw promotions for the show True Blood on HBO (about a year before the actual show aired) it piqued my interest and from there spiraled the Twilight Series, An Interview With a Vampire, The Vampire Diaries, The Haunted Forest (scary Halloween attraction in my town that I’ve never been to before), scary movies (to a point---KP, Tiny, and Misa know what I’m talking about), The Sookie Stackhouse Series, and even my very own colony of bats outside my house this past summer (I named each bat after characters from True Blood and every day I took a picture of the colony---a little weird I know). I guess the next logical step for me is to start from THE original source of vampire glorification, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I started reading it today (Thursday) and I couldn’t put it down :) Okay back to the topic…

After school on Tuesday I prepared for my next two sessions: the first was two 12 year girls and the second was 3 7 year old kids. Again, having no access to the internet before these sessions I had to come up with what to do based on my own materials (aka the noggin). I’m starting to really appreciate teachers more for all the planning that goes into lessons. Granted, they do have the help from a lesson planner with instructions on what to cover, previous years experience in the manner of conducting lessons, and units in which they have to follow. I have no such luxury. I don’t know what I’m dealing with so I have to prepare for every level of English with activities that can be beneficial for all levels and yet stimulating. Plus I have no idea how long it takes kids to go through exercises so I have to think of at least 5 different activities so we utilize all the time. My biggest fear is that I run out of things to do and the mom or dad is watching me and thinking, “Why am I paying her?” :(

Well the two girls were very nice but I could tell they were really shy in front me. I did my usual introduction with pictures and explanations of who I was and what I liked and then continued to ask them the same introductory questions. These girls were definitely not as advanced as Sergio for they had more trouble with the future tense, only spoke simple sentences, and had some trouble understanding my questions. With these girls I’ll have to translate my activities and questions from Spanish to English in order for them to really comprehend which is good because it will help me work on my Spanish. Before I left their house their mother, Margarita, asked me if she could have a lesson. Oh boy, now I have three sessions on Monday. I can tell that she doesn’t know much English so its going to have to start with the basics with her. The only positive aspect is that I’m sure she just wants to focus solely on conversation rather than reading and writing. As I was leaving Margarita offered me a homemade equivalent to an alfajor. It was covered in coconut and dulce goodness. Yumm so good.

Next I had to go straight to my next session with my across the street neighbor’s kids. When I arrived she talked with me for a long time and explained that the other mom’s couldn’t get their children to this session so it would only be her daughter Marta. She then convinced me to tutor her daughter one on one on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 8-9p (so late!!!---for me) and then a third time on Friday with the two other children right after school from 3:30-4:30p. Oy Vey! The little girl Marta was very sweet and very smart. She has a good base of vocabulary, speaks clearly, and picks up new words quickly. I made up my own exercise for her and it worked out really well. I thought it would be too difficult but she managed with ease. I was silently patting my back for my first attempt at creating a grammar exercise was a success. We finished the rest of the session with her mom watching us. I really hate that. There is nothing worse than that looming feeling that your every movement is being scrutinized and analyzed. First off it makes me perspire and secondly it makes me tense up and lose focus on the momentum that I’ve built with the student. Somehow I managed to finish the session.

Afterwards the mom was so sweet. She made me stay over as she fixed me some chicken soup for dinner and let me use the Internet. She reiterated the fact that if I need anything I should come on over. She doesn’t mind making me food, letting me use the Internet, or running an errand with me by means of the car. I wish I knew how to express true gratitude beyond MUCHAS GRACIAS in Spanish but I haven’t managed to figure it out yet. I gotta say there’s no better feeling in my opinion than the feeling of reassurance you get when you know that you are truly going to be OKAY. Now I can exhale and relax, I’m going to make it here in Valverde. After talking with Claire who lives in Huelva about her experiences so far I feel jealous that she can go to a health club, take trips to wherever easily, and hang out with other American’s from our program by she does not have the same sense of community that I have. She doesn’t see her students once school is over, she’s trying to establish a relationship with her coworkers but its been difficult (and she’s practically fluent), she has to walk 25 minutes to her school, and she doesn’t know any of her neighbors. I guess this experience so far has made me appreciate what a small town can have to offer someone. Coming from a big city and always living in cities I could never really understand why people preferred small towns to city. Now I’m starting to get it….

So Wednesday I only had one class to attend so I took the rest of the day to run errands. First i did a major grocery shop. I dread grocery shopping day because it is an event when i have to walk straight uphill with a backpack full of Tinto de Verano (wine/soda concoction), orange juice, cereal, a full chicken, and potato chips, and so forth for a good 20 minutes. By the time i get home I've sweated through my shirt, my back is aching, and my arms hurt from carrying bags. I try to limit these occasions to once every two weeks if i can help it. After grabbing a snack i head down hill to the Youth House to get in some quality email, tv show catchup, and tutoring planning done. I only have an hour and a half so i do my best to make the most of my time but its hard when you don't know where to look for materials about teaching. After the people at the Youth House kicked me out i went to the Post Office (Correos). I had to pick up my new phone from the UK. I got a kick out of the spinning clear glass conveyor belt that they use to place your packages in so that they can minimize hand to hand transactions. It is so unnecessary but in the age of Swine Flu necessary precautions are taken. I got my package without any problems so i headed back up the hill. I swear if I don't leave Spain with chiseled calfs and butt I'm suing Carmen Electra for false advertising. Once at home i decompressed for awhile. I made an amazing lunch, took a power nap, showered, packed for my trip to Huelva the next day, and planned out my sessions.

So my first session was Sergio. I thought it was going to be easier but we hit some road blocks. I had photocopied some grammar exercises to help him review but it ended up confusing him more. I tried to explain the best i could why the answer was the way it was but i think the English in the sentences were what was tripping him up. He also reverted bak to Spanish when he was confused instead of English and he speaks so fast that I can't understand him. It was not going well. So i ended that early. Plan B.... I tried some role playing exercises. I think he understood why i was trying role playing with him but he didn't respond to it the way i had hoped. I decided for the last exercise i would let him choose. He chose 20 questions. Again it was hard at first for him to understand but eventually he got it. We ended with that. It was not a good session. I was upset that i wasn't able to really teach him anything but i had to let that pass because i had his mom up next.

Ana was accompanied by Paco for this session. He was a very sweet man. I went through my usual introductory questions but i decided to skip the pictures since Ana had already seen them. I decided to jump right into role playing. They really liked it and got really into it. They improvised really well and made each role play last longer than i expected. It was kind of easy because all i had to do was listen and jot down anytime i heard them say something in correct. After the role play i would go over with them what they said right and what they said wrong. They took notes of their own and asked more questions on the topic. I really enjoyed explaining to them how "we American's" say things and the terms that we use. My last scenario was that they were on a date and they had to get to know each other for the first time. I thought they would really like this one, but neither of them have ever heard of a "date". I tried to explain to them that it was an appointment or meeting between two people that like each other. It can be a dinner, a movie, or whatever. we even looked it up in the dictionary for the best explanation and they still couldn't fathom that concept. I asked them what they would call that in Spanish and they had no answer. How interesting? They call any kind of "date" a cita---meaning an appointment. Well the next obstacle was the two of them pretending to like each other. They were both not having this scenario so instead Paco ended up asking Ana a question that he really needed answered. The session was over in a flash. I actually really enjoyed it. now i know that all i have to do is come up with everyday scenarios for them to act out or come up with topics to discuss about. They don't want to read anything in English and they don't need to work on writing. I went from dreading the adult class to looking forward to it the most.

After the class i dropped off my stuff and headed to the bus stop. I had to go to Huelva tomorrow for my own cita with the Office of Extranjeros. To make a long story short, once again we were given another date to come to the Office because apparently there is only one person who deals with students and that person was not present. they didn't even know when that person would be present but i told them i wasn't leaving until they gave me another date. The only reassurance i got was the fact that they had a list of all the participants in Huelva and we got to check off our name so I know that they know we are trying to get this done and they should be prepared for us the next time. ONE CAN ONLY HOPE. To make this trip not a complete lost i did a trip to Corte Ingles in dire search of some English books to stock up on. Well, unfortunately my trip was a bust (again). They only had 1 book in English, Dan Brown's new book The Symbol. It just so happens that i like Dan Brown and I was planning on reading it when i got back to the states and it wasn't so expensive but i was desperate so i grabbed my only hope of entertainment after Dracula. After talking with the sales clerk he told me that no place in Huelva would have a good selection on English books. What a let down. That being said i decided to give Harry Potter in Spanish a try. I also decided to buy a Spanish tabloid magazine to practice reading Spanish (and because Iker Castilles was on the cover). I go to pay for my books and magazine at the counter with a credit card because i wanted to save up my cash for the weekend. Well in Corte Ingles you cannot pay for multiple items at one cashier. You literally have to pay for books in the book section, magazines in the magazine section, and so forth. It is absolutely ridiculous. I ended up paying for my magazine (1.25 Euros) with my credit card. Great. Thank you for telling me this after the man ran my card. He had the nerve to say in Spanish something like "what a cheap price for all those books". hahaha---NOT FUNNY. I grudgingly went to the book counter and paid for my books with the credit card again. Don't be mad at me dad, I didn't know! I'm almost positive the fees for using the card will be like 20 dollars for that damn magazine. Oy!

Next i decided to get a few more groceries here in Huelva that i knew Valverde didn't have, like PEANUT BUTTER :) Well i decided to go to the CarreFour (grocery chain). I found strawberries and really fresh looking apples, but no peanut butter. AHHHHHHHHH the OTHER Express CarreFour had the PB!!! When one sees "Express" before a name of a store is it safe to assume that this store would have fewer options then a normal store? That was my impression but once again I was sadly wrong. Honestly, is it just me? Sometimes Spain makes me look like a dang fool. The Express CarreFour back up the hill that i had just climbed down had the peanut butter. Not only did it have PB it had EVERYTHING. It was huge! I wish i had another suitcase just for groceries because i would have stocked up but alas i stuck to just a few non cold items. My backpack was now sufficiently weighing me down so i knew that it was time to stop and just go to the bus station.

My bus back to Valverde blasted the air conditioning to the point of constant goose bumps. Wonderful. Not only was in freezing but it also took a good twenty minutes longer than normal. It is a really good thing i didn't have any other appointments i needed to get to in the afternoon because i would have never made it on time. I was so happy to finally be in my bed in my house. I had had enough let downs from Spain in one day to satisfy me for the next month. As Charlie Brown would say, "good grief".

The only high point of the day was after my shower and mini nap I started Dracula. I really got into it and read until the natural light of the day could not suffice as reading light. With all my new groceries i decided to make pasta and saute me some veggies. It was a great meal. I didn't smoke up the kitchen and i cooked everything to perfection (in my opinion at least). For a day that started off pretty bad I was glad to end it on a positive note. After dinner I digested by writing this blog and complete the planning for my tutoring on Friday (today).

"Teacher, teacher! Tiene un novio?"

Today was a day of first. I started school at 9am and finally got onto the Internet to check my mail and responses from friends. The fact that none of my fellow L&C asst didn’t reply to my emails/messages made me think that perhaps they had the same issues of access to the Internet during the weekend that I had. It is nice to feel like I’m not the only one in this boat. After checking my mail I started working on my health poster due Wednesday for Inma’s science class. Pocho was nice enough to finally give me a schedule for this week. Although it is tentative and it will definitely change next week it was nice to know how I could plan out my free time. I was excited to actually help out a teacher in a subject that wasn’t English. It just adds a different dimension to your task when you have to be the English translated in a math class or a science class. Today I worked with Raquel in Segundo A and B classes. I would guess the kids are 7 or 8?? So the minute I stepped in the kids went crazy. Raquel could barely talk because all the kids just started bombarding me with questions all at once. As soon as Raquel said introduced me and said I told them I was from Estados Unidos they were all over me. “Do you live in the casa Blanca?” “Do you have a boyfriend?” “Do you have a pet” How close are you from Huelva?” and so forth. A few of them kept thinking that since I spoke English I was from England but I had to keep repeating “no, Estoy de estados unidos, no ingleterra!” It was the first time the kids were actually addressing me personally. I like it but they didn’t really get any work done and I couldn’t understand most of the questions because I got about four at a time, all in Spanish. The cutest were these twin girls. They spoke really clearly and they asked where I got my clothes, if I had a pet, more personal stuff. It was fun but very chaotic. The highlight of my day was I received my first “fan mail” as I like to call it. A little girl drew a picture of me on her tissue and gave it to me as I left. SOOOOO PRECIOUS. I plan on saving everything I am given. Maybe I’ll take a picture of it and post it on the blog. After that class I had a break so I worked on the poster some more.

The next class was art with Raquel but her other Segundo class. This class was much more relaxed and the students seemed to be doing their work without a fuse. Granit it was art so they were just coloring and cutting out things, but still they were calm and actually doing it. Once a kid had finished cutting out the pieces that would make a doll I would come around to their desk and quiz them on body parts. I stuck to eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and head. Most of the kids were just repeating what I said and didn’t really know the body parts but every once in awhile a little boy or girl got it. After I was done quizzing a kid I would say Muy Bien and give them a high five. I felt like I was actually connecting to the kids so I was happy. A few of them asked me some questions and this one girl pointed out that we had similar bracelets on. She was very cute. Like in the other class, as I started to leave a little girl gave me another piece of “fan mail” in the form of a leaf. It’s the thought that counts right? It was hard at times when they asked me questions about their work because they don’t really respond to English but they are just so darn cute. On my way home I had my first conversation with a young girl. She looked to be one of the older students but I didn’t ask what grade she was in. We waked home in the same direction so we started to chat. It was the best conversation I have had in Spanish since I got to Spain haha I felt so comfortable talking to her. She spoke clearly and slowly and added a bit of English hear and there. She talked like an adult and I enjoyed our walk. I look forward to walking home with her in the future.

About a minute after I got to my place I heard a knock on my door. A fellow teach Toni introduced her daughter Maria and pointed out to me that she lived literally across the street from me and she told me “me casa es su casa” and said if I even needed anything that she was there for me. It was very sweet and I really appreciated the gesture. I will be tutoring her daughter and son on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s so I’m sure I’ll be in her house a ton. A half and hour later Elisa finally returned. She told me a few other rules about the house such as the cleaning rule that one week she will sweep the kitchen and the dinning room and then the next week I should do it. She also gave me an exact list of what extra things I will be paying for besides just the rent. It wasn’t a big deal and I was actually impressed with the fact that she liked keeping the place clean and that it was a joint effort. After that I made this amazing salad full of fresh vegetables for lunch (at 2:30p). So good.

The rest of the afternoon I dedicated to prepping for my first two tutoring sessions. I was so nervous for them. I’ve never tutored someone one on one, let alone in academics. Most people know very well that I don’t even like English. I’m normally always the one who gets corrected and now I have to correct other people, this might be really funny. My biggest issue was appearing confident to my students and acting like I knew exactly what I was doing. The guidebook I read on Saturday said it is really important to be confident in the sessions and stay in control, otherwise “they will eat you alive” (this was referring to teaching teenagers alone, but it applies here as well). Gulp, here I go. First up: Sergio, age 15, son of my co-worker Anna. Well I started the session off by saying from here on out you can only speak English. Next I introduced myself by using the photos I brought from home. I did this to show off my family, interests, and home life but also because I thought it would eat up a good chunk of time haha. After that I asked him to tell me about himself in the same manner. He spoke better than I had expected. I asked Corrie about how well the teenagers spoke in her school and she said beyond the usual introductions they weren’t very advanced, but I thought Sergio did a pretty good job. His problem area was the past, but who could blame him. I can’t talk in the past in Spanish any better. We shared a passion for soccer and a love of Coldplay. He plays a lot of sports but he likes soccer the best. He told me that he plays his games at Triana field and that anyone can watch FO FREE. Little does he know that I will be there every Saturday secretly cheering him on lol. After introductions I made him write down the things he liked to get an idea of what his written English was like. Again, it was pretty good so I don’t think it’s going to be quite as hard as I thought it was going to be with him. He showed me his English workbook and what units he was working on currently. He made it clear that he wanted to primarily follow the book so that he could review stuff before he had tests. Makes sense to me. His mom told me after the session that she wants me to also teach more “everyday conversational English” because the book does not do a good job at that at all. I bought a Grammar In Use book to provide me with activities but now I have to go find fun activities to supplement the grammar work. So far so good. Did I mention that he likes to go to Bar Blue with his friends? Hah! I cannot wait to go there with Corrie and run into him. I’m actually really looking forward to it LOL!

Next up Ana y Paco. Well it turns into just Ana because Paco had a last minute teachers meeting. That was actually better for me because it gave Anna a chance to really talk in English. I went through the same begging with her and I did with her son. I showed her my pictures and then she showed me her house. It was nice. Most of the session was her talking about her family, what she likes to do, why she like English, and what she wants to get out of this experience. Again, she really doesn’t make many errors. The only problems\ she encounters is with the past and occasionally not knowing what the word she wants to use in English is. Nothing major from what I heard. I think her sessions will be harder because it is only conversation and the only way I can think to expand her vocabulary is through role playing and making her think of what to say in typical or maybe not typical situations. I was hoping to go through some role-playing scenarios with her and Paco but because he didn’t show up and time was running out I ended the session with 20 Questions. At first she was confused with the concept but then she got the hang of it and I think she enjoyed it. All in all a pretty good day in terms of tutoring. Now that I’ve gotten one day under my belt (and I’m 20 Euros richer) I’m thinking that my Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s are going to be WAY HARDER. I’ll let you know how that goes manana. Ciao!

Sunday Funday

(suppose to be posted last Sunday)

The morning started bright and early. We had to catch the very first bus to Huelva so that we could spend a decent amount of time at the beach. Since Kate and Corrie live a little farther away we each got on at different stops in Valverde. Once on the bus we were happy when the bus didn’t stop as many times as it usually does making the trip a lot quicker. We got to Huelva in 40 minutes (record time!) and were able to catch the 11a bus rather than waiting a full hour for the 12p bus. The trip to Punta Umbria was a short one, only 15 minutes. We got off and let Corrie lead the way since PU was her stomping ground. I forget if I mentioned this earlier but she spent six weeks this past summer in PU being an au pair so she was familiar with the area. The beach was barren at 11:20a but what can you expect it is October. I can honestly say I’ve never been to the beach in October. Well I’m not going to exaggerate and say the water was crystal clear and sand was white like snow but it was smooth and the water was the perfect temperature. Corrie told me that they don’t get jellyfish here so that made me feel better. I had thought of a name for jellyfish just in case: jelly = marmalade, fish = pescado ipsofacto = pescado marmalade! Haha Most of my time was spent lying out but I did take a walk down the shore and I attempted to read this book Claire gave me but it was too weird for me. I did go in the water and it was very refreshing. Earlier there were waves and surfers but by the time I got in it was very calm and relaxing. Not cold but not warm, perfect temperature.

While we were on the beach Corrie’s two friends (twins) met her on the beach and invited her to lunch. Corrie invited me to join but I wasn’t in the mood to focus on fast talking Spaniards, plus I wanted to take advantage of every minute I had at the beach, so I declined. Kate and Corrie left and I was in charge of everyone’s stuff. All was going well but I noticed the tide was getting closer and closer. I was paranoid of the water swishing away our stuff so I couldn’t really close my eyes. I even thought in my head what I would grab if that was to occur. My shoes b/c I need to get home, and my bag because it has my wallet and I can’t get that wet. Well when I thought I was in the clear I put my sweater over my face and of course at the moment the tide decided to pay me a visit. On first impulse I did just what I had thought, grabbed the bag and my shoes and even had time to drag my towel away before the water got all of it. I was actually more worried about my friend’s stuff but luckily the water only soaked their towels and not their stuff. THANK GOD or they would have been really mad. So the rest of the time at the beach was a game of continual movement farther back on the beach to avoid the tide. I swear we were like the only people who had to keep moving back. This older couple was next to us and the whole day they watched us almost get wiped out. I was too bust grabbing my stuff but I’m pretty sure they were laughing at us. Other than that the day was great. The best part was the whole day there was this light breeze so you never had to sweat yet it was warm and you got a tan. For me to not sweat is a BIG DEAL so I was really happy about that.

We took the 4:30p bus back to Huelva but we knew that we would have to wait until the last bus for Valverde which was at 6:60p. So annoying. We got some coffee and a snack as we waited for the bus. When we were close to Valverde, Corrie got a text from a teacher friend Reuben to come over to his house for informal coffee and meet some of his friends. I was so tired and I just wanted to sleep but I told myself I needed to be social. I quickly showered, changed, and then I walked back down into the city center to Reuben’s apartment. I met other teachers that work at the same high school as my roommate Elisa and are actually her inner circle of friends. They were all lovely and I was glad I met them. The best was when Kate mentioned that in the USA we have a sandwich called a Reuben but she didn’t know what was in it, so it was my job to enlighten him. I tried to explain all of the components but he didn’t know Russian dressing was or sauerkraut. Oh well, he thought the idea that he was named after a sandwich to be quite hilarious anyhow. When I mentioned Elisa Reuben informed me that someone in her family was ill and that’s why she was in Sevilla for a long time. He didn’t know she would be returning so that was still a mystery to me. It was a lovely night out but I needed to get some sleep. I still hadn’t prepped for my tutoring sessions that start tomorrow and I had no idea how many hours I would be working tomorrow so I called it an early night (at 11p).

So this is what is feels like to be on a deserted island

(suppose to be posted last Saturday. My apologies)

Today is Saturday. I woke up at 11am (that’s very late for me). Ate a long breakfast. Finished my one and only book. It is now 12:30p. Swept up all of my hair off the ground and put away my dishes. Now it is 1p. Hmmm… turned on the TV hoping to finally see some soccer. Nope, more f*ing motorcycling. Honestly, for a country that lives and breaths soccer THEY NEVER play it on their ONE AND ONLY sports channel. I see these awesome commercials advertising EPL and how its “la major deporte” and yet they pay every other sport possible. I have watched motorcycling, tennis, the world championships of rhythmic gymnastics, motorcycling, volleyball, indoor futsal, base jumping, motorcycling, handball, equivalent of NASCAR, and rugby. I guess my theory about being physically closer to EPL would mean I could watch more of it was horribly inaccurate. So much for TV. I’ll brush up on my Rosetta Stone. It is now 2:30p. Still can’t run because I need more time to digest. I’ll write an email via Word Document that I will paste into my mail when I hit up the Youth House later. Start the outline to my worksheet for the Food Pyramid for 4^th graders. Okay it’s 4:45p. I only have to wait 15 more minutes before the Youth House opens. I’m almost there!

I’ve started to think that living here at times is like living on a deserted island. No Internet---no entertainment what so ever (movies, TV, radio), no books, no people (my roommate has been MIA since Wednesday. Will she return, I don’t know?!?!?), no phone (its way to expensive to text or call anyone just to “chat”), and nothing to clean. I could eat some more? Ahhh no! Don’t want to go shopping because I don’t want to spend money. This sucks. Thank god I’m going to the beach tomorrow because I do not want another day like this. Punta Umbria, venga aqui!

Okay I’m back (its still Saturday). I missed the memo about how the Youth House is closed this Saturday for some bicycling trip. Errrrr I couldn’t even get the signal sitting right outside the building like I have before. This day is slowly getting worse. I decide to walk to Kate and Corrie’s for the first time without a map. Yeah I end up getting lost and do a big circle before I finally find it. Sigh not happy. I talk to them briefly before they have to leave to listen to deer sounds (???!). I didn’t ask but I wasn’t prepared to join them either so I chilled at their place for a while. I read this handbook about being a Language Assistant for over an hour. It was actually extremely helpful and I took over three pages of notes from it. The book gave me some great suggests about what to do during my tutoring sessions. I finally have some ideas for next week expect I need the Internet to look up some passages and photos to print and copy. I’m sorry dad, I know you wanted me to try and live without it but honesty it’s a necessity for me to prepare for school and my one on one tutoring so I’m going to ask Elisa about it whenever she returns. So once it got dark (8:30p) I left their place, tried to find the bar that had internet, couldn’t, got chased by a stray dog, so I was just so upset I headed back up the hill to my house. So much for the Skype date with my family.

The only thing I accomplished today was I got a really good ice cream bar on my way back to my place (I’m an emotional eater. Yes it’s a problem). Ahhhhhhhh okay its dinnertime and then I have to pack for the beach. I hope tomorrow is more eventful.