Life...

So, my first day of teaching went well! I had planned to do introductions without really having any idea of their level of understanding of English and when I got there, the English teacher, whose name is Marisa, told me they were learning classroom vocabulary. So, I introduced myself, went around and had them all tell me their name and how old they are (in English, of course) and then starting reviewing classroom vocabulary. They put out name tags on their desk so that helped me to remember their names and I tried to say their name each time I called on a student. We reviewed vocab and learned a few things like how to say "How do you say _____ in English?" That took a while because no one understood that the blank was where you can input whatever word you don´t know how to say in English. I tried to explain it in English and Spanish and their real teacher tried to explain it...I´m not sure how many understood... But I do have to say things in English slowly and then repeat them in Spanish usually but it is really good for their comprehension levels...I hope. Next week we are going to do an activity with classroom vocabulary, colors and prepositions to learn above, on top of, next to, under, beneath, below, etc... It should be fun!

Now, since then, I had class Tues and Wed and then on Thursday was a festival. Lauren and I were going to go to Sevilla and Cádiz but then couldn´t find a hostal because the whole world (actually just every single person in Madrid) was "haciendo un puente" and there were no hostels...sad. "Hacer un puente" means literally to make a bridge but is used to mean skip work or school on Friday and take a long weekend when there is a festival on Wednesday or Thursday. It is a very common thing here and everyone travels...soooo not something that would happen in the States! So, Lauren and I ended up staying in Madrid for the weekend but it has been wonderful! We went to El Escorial on Friday which is a town about an hour outside of Madrid. There is a huge monastery/palace that King Felipe II built in thanks to God for Spain´s victory in a huge naval battle. (That little history note is thanks to my Señora, Pilar, who always gives us history lessons about anywhere we go or anything we see. She is a WEALTH of knowledge...and sometimes Lauren´s ADD kicks in and that´s fun!) Anyway, we did that and then today I slept in way late and have been doing some homework and am going to have dinner with Jared and his Mom who is leaving to go back to the states tomorrow...tear!

Oh and by the way, I have a lovely colorful bruise on my back from the shower knobs...the concept of large showers is non existent here I think. I´m going to take a picture and I´ll post it on a later entry. You don´t want to miss this!

Also, if anyone feels inclined to send me some love, leave me a comment or my email address is Jaclyn.Metcalf@trinity.edu and if you really want to send me some tangible love (i.e. snail mail) email me and I´ll give you my address! Big hugs to all!