"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!