Back for Round 2

The transition back into la vida española has been crazy, seamless, and so much fun.

New apartment and barrio:

I arrived on Thursday at 7am and, as expected, a nice gentleman carried BOTH my bags out of the Tribunal metro steps for me (80 lbs in total).  I saw 2 apartments on Thursday, 1 apartment on Friday, and was moved into a piso by Saturday at 6pm.  The apartment is a microscopic 5 bedroom, 1.5 bath, and a 5^th floor walk-up, but I couldn’t be happier with it.  It’s two and a half blocks from the Argüelles metro stop, my door-to-door commute to work is only 40 minutes, and my roommates are an amazing motley crew.

New job:

My new school is in Alcorcón.  It’s a GIANT Catholic school with over 1,000 students.  It runs from infantil to bachillerato, but the auxiliares only work with classes from pre-school to 7^th grade.  I’ve got four 1^st grade classes, four 2^nd grade classes, and one 7^th grade class.  The way the bilingual program at this new school works is that the teacher takes half the class and the auxiliar has the other half, so I have complete independence to carry out the hour anyway I want.  I meet with my two teachers once a week, so we can coordinate what I have to cover for the chapter, but I have so much more creative freedom than I had in the public school.  The only negative part; we’re required to take a 3 hour “postgrado” class every Monday at the Comillas University campus in Cantoblanco.  It. Is. A. Pain. 

Arroyomolinos:

I still go back to Arroyomolinos twice a week to tutor my three favorite girls from last year.  It’s a bit of a pain in the butt because there’s no direct transport between the two towns, but it’s worth it for the amount of love I get in return!  For the month of September, most Spanish schools are still on the summer schedule, so I get out of work between 1pm and 2pm (with more than enough time to take the train to Mostoles and the bus to Arroyomolinos) and start tutoring at 3pm.  Once the full schedule starts in October, I’ll get out of work at 4:30pm, take the train down to El Soto, and Isa will pick me up!!! I’ve got it made, for sure.  In addition to paying me for the classes, Isa and Gemma are paying for the difference between a B1 and B3 metropass every month (so it won’t be any extra cost to me for the commute), AND I basically get a home cooked dinner twice a week. I LOVE IT.

Free time:

Well, it looks like my genius plan to tutor, take Italian lessons, take dance lessons, and attend the Comillas course, was a big fat failure.  I am EXHAUSTED at the end of the day, so for now it’s going to be just tutoring and Comillas.  Once we get our student I.D. cards from Comillas (the ONLY perk to having to attend that course) I’ll be able to get into the gym at their campus in my neighborhood…but who knows if they’ll have dance classes that even fit my schedule. 

I’ve gone out so much in the past two weeks with my roommates and new guiri friends.  I’ve already decided that I’m going to England over Christmas to spend the holiday with my co-worker from Manchester, visit an old co-worker who also lives there, make my way down to London to visit a guy I met in Italy and a girl I met last Saturday who was only in Madrid for the weekend. Then, there are the 3 people I know in France who obviously will need a visit in October!
This is going to be a good year!

Packing with Oscar

This is obviously Oscar's way of telling me, "I'm not like the dogs, I actually DO  know who you are"

Or it's his way of telling me, "Take me with you Neeeekeeeee"

Or it's his way of telling me, "I'm going to miss you!!!"

Or he's just a cat who likes to sit in bags :(

The Dog Days of Summer

These days I spend most of my time incarcerated in the Arevalo residence with no mode of personal or even public transportation at my disposal.  My incarcerated companions include: Oscar, Charlotte, Shelby, and Cole....the largest weighing in at 19 lbs.  I leave the confines of my domain to get the mail, walk the dogs, go to the pool, or (if I'm lucky and its only 95 degrees) bike to the supermarket.  I've left the housing development 3 times in the past 20 days...to go to the library and see my friends in Chapel Hill.  And people wonder why I love Spain?



I've decided my goals for the upcoming año escolar in Spain.  I'll no longer be working as an auxiliar de conversación for the Ministry of Education.  I'm doing the Programa BEDA, or Bilingual English Development & Assesment Program, in the Catholic School System of Madrid.  I was placed in northern Alcorcón, which is amazing because it is zone B1 (ie. barely outside the city and on metro, renfe, and multiple bus lines) and I can live in Madrid!  I'll be working a full Monday through Friday schedule and taking a mandatory night course during the fall semester at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas with other BEDA assistants.  

My plan? tutor Andrea & Alba two days a week, take a dance class two days a week, and take an Italian class one day a week, successfully filling my 5 day week.  The only problem? the night course may prove to be more energy zapping than I'm expecting, especially after a full day of working with kids.  Then again, my new school is Pre-K through 12th grade, so if I get older kids I might not be so exhausted after work.  

The reason I want to tutor Andrea & Alba (and no one else) is because I've become so close to their family that it wouldn't feel right to be in Spain and not see them.  I overdosed on the clases particulares last year, so this year I'm taking it easy.  I'm most looking forward to the Italian class though.  I took Italian for 3 semesters at UNC, but haven't actively practiced it since Fall 2008.  When I went to Rome in January, I realized after 3 days how easy it was picking it back up.  I'm hoping to be intermediate/fluent by 2012 because I want to travel through southern Italy either over Semana Santa or summer break.  Which leads me to my next set of goals....TRAVEL GOALS! I must, must, must see northern Spain, more of Andalucía, London (purely to go see Les Mis) and southern Italy.  I'm not coming home for the summer next year, so if schedules don't permit my last destination between September and June....looks like I'll be spending le mie vacanze estive di lavoro nella bella Italia :)







El Resumen

Andrea, Alba, Isa, and I

Well, it's over. 

I finished up work at Las Castañeras on June 31.  
My friend Carolyn had been staying with me for the week, and the very next day, we packed up my room, moved out of my apartment in Arroyomolinos, and headed to Paris. 

While she was here, Carolyn had a chance to meet my town mom, Isa.  We set aside a day to hang out with the girls by the pool and spend some time together before I left for the States.  Tears were shed (the ONLY tears I shed saying goodbye to someone in Spain) and probably because Isa, who is normally so expressive and loving, dropped us off, gave me a quick tight hug, and got back in her car before I could really see her being a llorona.

I'm storing a box of winter clothes, shoes, and teaching resources in a box in Isa's basement for the next few months, but I still had to buy a second suitcase before I came back to the States.  I stored my big bags in the taquillas at Barajas Airport while Carolyn and I were in France.  We spent July 1-4 in Paris and then split ways, so I could come back to Madrid and she could head north to see our friend Julien in Lille.

I've been back in the U.S.A. since July 6th, so let's chronicle the past year, shall we?

-Sept 2010: moved to Arroyomolinos, Madrid
-Oct 2010: Muriel's visit to Madrid
-Oct 2010: Barcelona
-Oct 2010: Claire's visit to Madrid
-Oct 2010: Toledo
-Nov 2010: Consuegra
-Nov 2010: Salamanca
-Dec 2010: Le Crotoy to spend Christmas with Muriel & one day in Paris
-Dec 2010: Jenn's visit to Madrid & Segovia
-Jan 2011: Rome
-Feb 2011: El Escorial
-Feb 2011: Cuenca
-Mar 2011: Topher's visit to Madrid
-Mar 2011: Valencia
-Apr 2011: Santiago de Compostela
-Apr 2011: North Carolina to see the family
-May 2011: Aranjuez
-May 2011: Córdoba
-June 2011: Fuengirola, Málaga
-June 2011: Carolyn's visit to Madrid - El Escorial again
-July 2011: Paris and Versailles
-July 2011: Madrid ---> back to the U.S.A.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the best year of my life (because I'm going back next year) but it was pretty amazing.  I made a new best friend, Lynn, who so happens to have to same exact birthday as my other best friend in New York (coincidence, I think not), I traveled whenever and wherever I wanted, I lived in a perpetual state of Spanish, and I was happy for the first time in a long time.  Sure, working with Montse in 1st and 2nd grade was enough to make me want to punch her in the uterus...but I wrote a lovely fairwell email to my coordinadora delineating how horrible she was (see excerpt below) and hopefully there will be some repercussions for her behavior.  Believe me, I'm not naive, and I know how things work in the Spanish public school system (ie. there will be no repercussions for her behavior) but a girl can dream, right?

>Trabajar en 1°A y 2°A durante este curso no ha sido nada facil. No te lo he
> dicho durante el curso porque no suelo quejarme de un choque de
> personalidades. Trato de no traer los problemas personales al ambiente
> profesional, pero trabajar con Montse era la cosa más difícil del año.
> Montse optaba por no hablar conmigo, pero cuando lo hacía, siempre era de
> una manera condescendiente. Tengo que suponer que ella no sabía que tengo
> varios años de experiencia trabajando con niños – de niñera, maestra, y en
> los Juegos Olímpicos Especiales – o que ella tuvo una experiencia mala con
> otro auxiliar pasado. Yo hice todo lo posible durante el primer trimestre
> para enseñarle que yo estaba aquí para ayudar, pero nada cambió. Finalmente
> (una vez en enero y otra en marzo) yo fui a casa para empacar mi maleta
> porque no podía aguantar la falta de respeto. Nunca he dejado un trabajo y
> me quedé porque me encantan mis estudiantes.
>
> No recomiendo que ella tenga un auxiliar el año que viene. Sería injusto
> para el auxiliar futuro, y es obvio que es algo que Montse preferiría,como
> me dejó claro este año. Yo sé que se puede aprender algo de cada
> experiencia en la vida. He aprendido que no podemos cambiar otra persona,
> sino como reaccionar a su comportamiento. También debemos mejorar las cosas
> por la gente que viene después de nosotros. Espero que esta carta haga eso.

Every city has a word

Elizabeth Gilbert's book Eat, Pray, Love wasn't the most intriguing read of all times (in fact it was one of the only books in my life that I couldn't finish reading) but it wasn't without its good points!  At one point in Italy, her friend Giulio tells her,

Every city has a single word that defines it, that identifies most people who live there. If you could read people’s thoughts as they were passing you on the streets of any given place, you will discover that most of them are thinking the same thought. Whatever that majority thought might be- that is the word of the city. And if your personal word does not match the word of the city, then you don’t really belong there.
            "What's Rome's word?" I asked.
            "SEX," he announced.
            "But isn't that a stereotype about Rome?"
             "No."
....Now if you are to believe Giulio, that little word - SEX - cobbles the streets beneath your feet in Rome, runs through the fountains here, fills the air like traffic noise. Thinking about it, dressing for it, seeking it, considering it, refusing it, making a sport and game out of it -- that's all anybody is doing."

If I had to give just ONE word to Madrid....I think it would be FIESTA.  I can guarantee that everyone on the streets of Madrid is either thinking about a celebration, tired from a previous celebration, dressing for / shopping for / preparing for an upcoming celebration, excited for a celebration, regretting too much celebration...the list goes on and on.  The "mañana mentality" of Spain?....blame it on the fiesta.

 

 

Favorite poem

My Dad has a collection of old and tattered poetry books from his college days, picked up at various second hand book stores and antique shops over the years.  As a kid I always loved the way they looked and smelled, but never opened them.  When I was 13, I finally opened one up.  It was a collection of poems by Tennyson. I read this poem and immediately copied it down onto some pretty Korean stationary.  It remained on that Korean stationary (in my 13-year-old self's handwriting) in the clear plastic front of my binder for most of high school.  I didn't realize that I had it memorized until I just started reciting it to myself recently.

The Flower
by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Once in a golden hour
I cast to earth a seed.
Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed.

To and fro they went
Thro' my garden-bower,
And muttering discontent
Cursed me and my flower.

Then it grew so tall
It wore a crown of light,
But thieves from o'er the wall
Stole the seed by night.

Sow'd it far and wide
By every town and tower,
Till all the people cried
`Splendid is the flower.'

Read my little fable:
He that runs may read.
Most can raise the flowers now,
For all have got the seed.

And some are pretty enough,
And some are poor indeed;
And now again the people
Call it but a weed.

España, te amo

1. I love that when I go to the supermarket, I only have to choose between three types of cereal.

2. I love that when I walk around Arroyomolinos, I always run into at least 1 familiar face

3. I love that the 25 minute bus ride to Madrid stops right in front of my apartment.

4. I love that my Spanish moms have added me on Facebook and take me shopping.

5. I love that I can go to the pasta aisle in the Corte Ingles and overhear three gorgeous Italian girls arguing over spaghetti.
6. I love that Principe Pio looks like this at 9:30 at night.

7. I love that when I take a kid away from their parents, teachers, and peers, and just hang out with them, I realize how cool and smart they are.

8. I love that I can't go one weekend without meeting someone foreign, cool, and/or interesting.

9. I love that la marcha doesn't start until 1am and doesn't end until 6am.

10. I love that I can travel wherever I want, whenever I want.

11. I love when people can't tell I'm American.

12. I love enjoying Jesus' mojitos with friends at La Tarasca.

13. I love accidentally kissing strangers...and not so accidentally kissing strangers.
14. I love that an 8 year old asked me if I knew who Calle 13 were. 

15. I love the hippies in Valencia and the peregrinos in Santiago de Compostela.

16. I love my kids.
17. I love that it is totally acceptable to take 100 fifth and sixth graders on a bike ride (from Arroyomolinos to Mostoles)...with only 2 adults to supervise.
18. I love that my nails, hair, and jewelry are the most intriguing things about me to most 7 year olds.

In conclusion,.............España, te amo