¡I Have a Piso!

Yea! After being here for three weeks, I finally found a piso (apartment). I’m really excited about it, too. I will be living with an American (from California) and a Spanish girl. They are both a couple years older than me and seem really nice. We each have our own room and will share a decent sized bathroom. There is also a big living room, kitchen and dining area. My room is pretty small, but it has tons of closet space, so I think it’ll be just fine. The best part is the location. It’s in the neighborhood where I wanted to live… many call it the nicest neighborhood in Madrid, and it’s only a three minute walk from Retiro Park where I like to run. ☺ Two of my good American friends live within a five-ten minute walk, and it’s on the Metro line that goes to my work. Yea! I should be moving in this weekend.

Facts about Teaching in Spain (and Other Random Thoughts)

In one class alone where I teach, there are three boys named Javier. Besides that, there is at least one Javier in every class.

The three Javiers are nothing compared to the three boys named Jorge Martínez in another class. No, I am not kidding. They are all named Jorge Martínez and they are all in the same class. Thankfully in Spain everyone has two last names (father’s and mother’s), so they call them by their second last name.

Usually British English is taught here, and in a couple classes we are reading British books. Well, this phrase appeared in one of the books the other day: “She’s chuffed to little mint balls.” Do I speak this language? I had to go to wordreference.com to look up an English word! I found out that chuffed means “happy”. Then I posted a question in the forum asking about the phrase. I found it strange that my first post on Word Reference was regarding an English phrase, not a Spanish one. Well, someone British replied and it means “really excited/happy about something”. Apparently “chuffed to bits” is more common, though. Want to see if we can make it catch on in the U.S.? Go ahead and throw it into a conversation. Let’s see what happens.

Speaking of starting trends, my friend Julie and I decided that we want the term “turkeys” to catch on in the U.S., too. In Spanish “pavos” or “turkeys” means “bucks” (as in money). Try that one, too. Here’s what you could say, “I’d be chuffed to little mint balls if I won a million turkeys.” Ha…they may send you to the funny farm.

Back to school… maybe you already knew this, but in Spain high schoolers stay in the same class all day. The teachers switch classrooms. Yes, this means the students are with the same people all day long. And, yes, they know each other way too well. It also means that when I did a Power Point I had to unplug and then reset-up the laptop and projector between every class. Annoying!

My favorite students, though, are the kids I give private classes to three times a week: Miguel (5) and María (3). They are ADORABLE. I could just eat them up! Miguel is as smart as a whip and wants to know everything and remembers everything.

I hope you all are doing well. I am still staying with my generous friends Julie and Paco. I need to find a permanent home!!! The search has been harder than I had anticipated.

On Reading Gone with the Wind

Warning: spoiler

I just deprived myself of a full night’s sleep to finally finish reading Gone with the Wind. What a mistake! That has to be the worst ending to the longest book I’ve ever read! Agh! I still can’t believe how it ended. Even though you completely hate Scarlett by the end of the book, you pull for her the whole time and you just want her to come to her senses more than anything. Then, when she finally does, it’s too late! Agh! Why didn’t anyone tell me it was a tragedy!? As much as Scarlett deserves what she finally gets (or doesn’t get), you SO want her to get what she wants.

Okay, well now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I realize that, indeed, it was a good book. I truly loved it. I had never seen the movie or read the book so a few months ago I plucked a tattered copy from my parents’ bookshelf and, with my mother’s coaxing, started to read. I really wasn’t planning on liking it. I always thought it was a silly romance saga…which partly it is, but it’s so much more. It’s historical, it’s feminist, but more than anything, it’s a mirror of every emotion and reaction to our emotions that anyone’s ever experienced. It’s the story of tragedy and how individuals face that tragedy. It’s a social commentary not just on small towns, but on society as a whole. Now that I’m over my complete and utter shock of the ending, I can appreciate it. It’s a lesson on what happens when you allow yourself to become completely jaded, hide your own emotions and blind yourself to those of others. I guess that lesson couldn’t have been taught so well had the book ended differently. And speaking of being jaded, I guess Margaret Mitchell couldn’t have left the door open to a sequel if it hadn’t ended like that. I still think I would have preferred a Hollywood ending, though.

Getting into the Daily Grind

On Wednesday I started my job here. I am a teacher's aide in a bilingual high school. I will be helping Science and English teachers with their English and with their classes/students. They teach everything in English. The classes I help in are the equivalent of 7th-9th grades...a little younger than what I'm used to. So far I really like it. It's a good school, the kids are pretty well-behaved, and the staff is very nice. Like all high schools, the kids are in the same class and classroom all day and the teachers change classes. I really hate that. Today I did a power point presentation and had to take down and re-set up the computer and projector between every class.

I have only been here for a week and two days. I am still staying in my friend's apartment and looking to find a place to live. I won't be able to afford my own place so I'm looking for a room in an apartment with some other girls. I actually was "accepted" today to live in an apartment in the neighborhood I like, but I don't know what I'm going to do because it's really small and it doesn't have an oven.

I am also giving private English classes to a five and three year old four and a half hours a week. They are adorable! Today was my first day and they met me at the door with pictures they had colored for my birthday. (When I interviewed with them the boy wanted to know how old I was and I said "29 on Wednesday". So that's how they knew it was my birthday.) The dad who knows English had written "Happy Birthday from your two little pupils María y Miguel". I don't know how I got lucky enough to teach the two cutest kids in Spain!