Winding Down

My time here is quickly coming to an end and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I have so many wonderful things lined up when I get back to the States; graduating, seeing friends/family (some of whom I haven't seen in years!), seeing my sister graduate, and trips to Washington DC, Colorado, Florida, and California! It's going to be a busy, yet exciting summer, but I'm loving life in Spain right now... and it makes me sad knowing that I'll be leaving here exactly two weeks from today! Bittersweet.

all of the third graders!

The past week has been fun. Lots of things going on around Caceres and at school. Last Wednesday, I went on my first field trip with the two 3rd grade classes to the Civil Guard. The students were able to see the control room and the firearm training room, we watched one of the dogs do some tricks, and everyone had the privilege of sitting on a motorcycle... including me!

the training room

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these two girls and I had "girl talk" during our snack and on the bus :)

My English classes are still going well! I introduced the game "What Time is it, Mr. Fox?", a game I used to always play at the daycare last summer. However, I changed it up a bit and used categories instead of numbers, and the students had to spell the words that the "Fox" said instead of just counting to a certain number. I also brought a little bit of ISU spirit to my English class last week, by introducing the song, "Sweet Caroline". I made sure to teach the actions as well :) 

Last week, I found out that I am featured on the school website! Check it out! 

School Website 

This weekend, I stayed in Caceres and soaked up the sun in my favorite park. The weather has been so gorgeous lately! No more rain!

Parque Rodeo

Yesterday, was the "San Jorge" holiday, so we didn't have school. (You can read about the holiday here: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/spain/st-george-day) On Monday night, there was a parade and then everyone gathered in the main square to witness the slaying of the dragon.  The dragon was set on fire and after it burned, there was a firework show.

the dragon

These guys were hanging from the castle and fighting each other... pretty sweet!

Since we didn't have school yesterday, Lola, Susana, Paige, and I went to "Barruecos" (Click here for more info on Barruecos!) where there are some of the oldest rocks in Spain - over 500 million years old. Lola took Claire and me here two years ago and it's one of my favorite places in Spain. There are a lot of trails to hike and there is also a museum called the "Vostell-Malpartida". Wolf Vostell was a German painter and sculptor. The museum contains a lot of his work... which is extremely interesting/strange. We toured the museum and then went on a long walk, where we stopped to have a picnic. It was a great day!

Part of the interesting museum... a car fountain?

Enjoying our picnic!

Barruecos

Sending my love to all of you back home! See you all in just 2 weeks!! Eeek!

A Weekend in Rome!

This past weekend, I visited a new country! My roommate, Paige, and I went to Rome for the weekend... but with our late night/early morning flights (RyanAir gets ya every time) we really only spent one day in Rome. But it was worth it!

On Friday, right after school at 2pm, I went straight to the train station so we could catch the 2:16 train. We thought we would be cutting it close, but the train didn't show up until 3pm. When we got to Madrid, we took the metro to the airport, checked in, got something to eat, and then boarded our flight to Roma! When we arrived in Rome, it was nearly midnight. We flew into the Ciampinno airport (an airport that mainly services RyanAir... that should tell you something). We thought it would be wise to book a hotel near the airport since we were getting in late and flying out early Sunday morning. That way, we wouldn't have to worry about finding a hostel in the city so late at night. On the map, it looked like our hotel was RIGHT NEXT TO the airport. We thought we would just take a taxi to the hotel and it wouldn't cost very much. Well, the problem was that in between the very little space between the hotel and the airport on the map... was the runway. So there was no way we could walk to our hotel without going up and around, which required us to walk on the freeway. So we told the (unlicensed) taxi driver where we wanted to go and he said it would cost us 35 euros each! Uhh... no. So we went inside to ask a man who worked at the airport and he said our only option was a taxi. Then he told us he was off work in 15 minutes and we was willing to take us for free. Paige and I looked at each other and we both read each other's minds: "Is he being nice or creepy?" We ended up running into two other girls (from Spain) who were trying to get to the same hotel. One of the girls said she would go out by herself to ask a taxi driver how much it would cost since she had "darker hair". She came back and told us the taxi driver said it would cost 28 euros total - 7 euros each (by the way, it was the SAME taxi driver who told us earlier it would be 35 euros EACH). We all agreed that 7 euros each was much better. Once we got to the taxi, he upped the price to 29 euros because we had luggage. (Well, of course we had luggage, we just got off an airplane.) Then when we got to the hotel, he tried to tell us it was going to cost 30 euros... but there was no reason for upping the price this time! We gave him 29 euros and quickly got out of the car. 

After this experience, Paige and I were really hoping that things were going to go a little more smoothly on this trip... and thankfully, they did! The rest of the trip was incredible and we LOVED our one day in the great city of Rome.  We bought a hop-on hop-off bus ticket and toured the city (in the sun! finally!) on the top of a double-decker bus, listening to cheesy facts about Rome. We got off to see the Vatican, the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, and of course... to eat the most incredible Italian food! We had Margherita pizza for lunch and crepes and gelato for our afternoon snack :) ... before this trip, Paige didn't even know what a crepe was and had never tried one! And we all know how much she loves her Nutella... I think her exact words were, "This is the best thing I've ever eaten."

Coliseum

Spanish Steps

Vatican

Vatican

Inside the Vatican

Nutella Crepes and Gelato!

Margherita Pizza

On top of the Spanish Steps

A little adventure in Zagarolo...

After spending the entire day in Rome, we decided to head back to our hotel. Our plan was to just relax, watch a movie, and maybe find some more pizza later. We went to the train station to buy our tickets and the machine said our train was leaving in a half hour. However, we saw on the screen that a train going through Ciampino (our stop) was leaving in 5 minutes... so we decided to board that train instead. As you're reading this, you're probably thinking, why would you do that? Yeah, it was a dumb decision. Sure enough, the train goes through Ciampino... but doesn't stop in Ciampino. When we sped by our stop, you should have seen the look on Paige's face. (Paige is the type of person who doesn't like spontaneous adventures... she likes plans!) 

So we got off at the first stop we came to... some deserted area called "Zagarolo" and we sat and waited for a train going back the other way... and a train that would actually stop at Ciampino. We waited for about an hour. Good thing we had some entertainment... the man sitting on the bench next to us decided to just take off his pants... and then when I was shooing a bug away from my face, the conductor across the platform thought I was waving to him... so that made the rest of our time there a little awkward...

You didn't believe me, did you?

We eventually made it back to our hotel and then went out for some more pizza. The next morning, we took a shuttle bus to the airport (FOR ONLY 1.20...), flew back to Madrid and hung out in the train station for a couple of hours. While we were hanging out in the train station, many things happened: we helped guide a blind man to the bathroom, Paige spent nearly 15 euros on a scoop of dried fruit and some nuts (haha sorry, Paige), and I bought some popcorn out of a portable popcorn machine that talked and played music (it was pretty cool). 

Cool popcorn machine :)

We made it back to Caceres around 9pm Sunday night! Definitely a great weekend! 

Alejandro teaching a math lesson last week

School is still going well and so are my afternoons with the English Immersion class and tutoring! Alejandro (my supervisor who was visiting last week) flew back to the U.S. today. Last Thursday, my host family invited him over for dinner. Lola made tortilla patata, gazpacho, Spanish salad, and we had a mixture of meats and cheeses from Extremadura. Even though there's a chance that Alejandro could read this, I HAVE to share this story with all of you. When Alejandro first came in the door that night, he turned (I think he went to give Lola a flower plant that he bought her) and his backpack hit the lamp on the entry table, which knocked over two photo frames and a plate. Everything broke and glass shattered all over the floor. I tried SO hard to keep from laughing but I couldn't help it. I guess I was the only one who thought it was funny (or at least showed it at the time). The first thing he said was, "Did I do that?" He felt so bad and I felt bad for laughing, but it was pretty funny. He kept saying "Shut up, Shea!" then said he was going to fail me. So if he is reading this, I'm sure he'll really fail me... but it's a good story, right? I think it's worth sharing :) But it also means I might not graduate in a couple weeks... 

Beautiful dinner prepared by my host mom

My English Immersion class is going so well. Last week, we played games like "Slap the Word" and "The Hot Seat". I've also decided to teach the students a song during the last ten minutes of every class. Last week, we sang "Dancing in the Moonlight" by Toploader. Today, we sang "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland. If you have any suggestions for songs, let me know! Simple lyrics, appropriate words, etc. :) Last Thursday after my class, a 6th grade girl gave me a hug and told me how much she enjoys my English class and that my classes are the best. Moments like that are what keep me going and I know I'm in the right profession! #proudteachermoment 

Also, as promised, here is the final project of the quilt that the students made last week:

Oh, and here is a picture of the 7 year old twin girls that I am tutoring... they were obsessed with my phone last week and I got an adorable picture of the two of them. Aren't they cute?!

 Hasta luego!

Tantas Cosas!

I feel like I am one hundred times busier now than I was a couple weeks ago! No more siestas and no more Nutella.  ;)

Last week, I started tutoring a high school student, a college student, and 7 year old twins in the afternoons. Yesterday, I started teaching an English Immersion class at the school. I teach 3rd and 4th graders for an hour and 5th and 6th graders for an hour every Tuesday and Thursday until I leave in May. Yesterday was so much fun! It's such a great way to practice various ESL strategies that I've learned at ISU and I get to create my own activities and lessons in English. In the English classes at school, the students listen to tapes and do exercises in their workbooks the whole time. The classes are focused on English grammar, but they are taught in Spanish for the most part. This English immersion class that I am teaching is completely in English and the main focus is speaking. I think the most challenging part was not translating for the students. In the English classes here, almost everything is translated for the students and sometimes I get into the bad habbit of translating the words or phrases. But I was able to make it two hours without translating anything AND the students understood the activities! It takes a lot of explaining, examples, and energy, but it's SO rewarding when they "get it" without having to translate! Yesterday was mostly an introduction class, and I had the students draw questions out of a bag and they had to figure out what the question said, read it to the class, and answer it. Then with the older group of students, we did the activity "Two Truths and a Lie". It was a perfect activity for that age group and they really enjoyed it!

Working in pairs! Love it!

Another reason this week is busier than usual is because my supervisor from ISU is here to observe me. Alejandro arrived in Caceres last night and he went with me to school this morning and spent the entire day there. He will be here until the weekend so he will most likely observe me the rest of the week. This morning, I taught an art lesson in English and I used a lesson that I really loved from my art methods class that I took two years ago at Iowa State. I emailed my art professor (who is was of my favorite professors EVER... if you're reading this and you go to ISU, take Art 211!) and I asked her if she had any ideas for a simple art project that I could complete in an hour with a rowdy 5th grade class. She gave me the idea of doing a project similar to a project we did in her class, where each student creates a quilt block and then we put them together to make a quilt. For this particular class, we gave the quilt the following title: "What We Like About Spring and Ways We Are Growing Together". So I had the students work in pairs (which isn't something they normally do here... there is absolutely no group work and all the students sit in rows). I had each pair make a quilt block together (where they drew an example of one way they are "growing together") and if they finished early, they had the opportunity to create their own quilt block (something they like about Spring). It was so cool to see them working together on a project for a change! I will be sure to post a picture of the quilt once it's finished :)

 Also today, I taught Language Arts and Science in Spanish. Both lessons went well. The day wasn't as stressful or nerve-racking as I thought it would be. My supervisor was so relaxed about everything and didn't just sit there and take notes as I taught (which is what I'm used to).  Instead, he helped out with the classes and talked a lot with the students. Tomorrow, he's even going to teach a math lesson (Math Methods is the class that he teaches at Iowa State) so it will be really interesting to see how the students respond to these new methods! 

Tomorrow, my host mom is making dinner and we are inviting Alejandro over. I LOVE when we have company because Lola always makes tortilla patata, and her tortilla patata is the best in all of Spain. No lie. 

On Friday, Paige and I are leaving for Rome! It will be nice to take a vacation for a couple of days after having a semi-crazy week. Neither one of us has been to Italy before, so I'm excited to experience a new country and a new culture! But mostly, I'm excited for all the gelato ;)

I feel like I haven't done much other than plan lessons and teach private English lessons, but last weekend I went to Monfrague National Park with my host mom. My host sister organized a group of high school and college-age students (about 20 people) and we rented a bus and took a day trip to Monfrague. I actually visited Monfrague two years ago with the group from ISU, but it's such a beautiful place so I decided to go again! Here are some pictures from the trip:

Rio Tajo

Maria and Lola (my host sister and host mom)

"Geo-Catching" in Spain!

Back into the swing of things!

I think my blogs have gone from every other day to once a week...  and I don't know if it's because I'm busier now or because there's nothing to blog about!  I also noticed that I don't have very many pictures this time... and as most of you know, it's not like me to not take pictures every day! Especially of food ;)

One of our Easter meals...

So the rest of my Semana Santa was pretty lame. My host mom was in her village and I decided to stay in Caceres and go to the processions. But I didn't know anyone who was in town, it rained the ENTIRE time (fun fact: this is the most it has rained in Spain in 60 years!), and I got sick right before I came back to Caceres. So I basically sat on my butt every day, ate Nutella (which I'm sure didn't help my cold), and watched movies. On Easter, I was going to go to a procession, but I didn't know that Spain went through Daylight Savings Time the night before, so I totally missed it! Paige came back on Sunday afternoon and we ended up going to Burger King for lunch... then we ordered Pizza Hut online for dinner. (Two great Easter meals, huh?) We weren't sure if ordering pizza would work because we have such a funky address here (with degree symbols and random letters) but it was successful! 

On Monday, we didn't have school... I was told that there's no school because everyone needs to rest from Semana Santa. So they need a day to rest from a whole week off... I can work with that. Paige and I walked to the market in the afternoon, then Lola came back from her village and we went for another walk to a nearby park... one that we hadn't been to before. On this walk, my host mom told us to appreciate the "smells of nature"... aka animal poop.

Yesterday we finally went back to class. After spending an entire five days completely alone then having a busy day like yesterday, always surrounded by people, I learned something about myself - I need to be around people! My mood completely changed and I felt so much better yesterday! I spent the day at school, came home and ate with Paige and Lola, went to tutor one of my teacher's sons, printed some pictures at the library, then went to get tapas with Paige. Speaking of tapas, I think Paige and I found our new favorite place. We got two huge glasses of sangria and a large plate of food, which consisted of fried fish and beans. As I was eating the fish, the bartender noticed that Paige wasn't eating (she doesn't like fish... or anything else really ;)) so he brought out two ham and cheese sandwiches with fries. And we got all of this for a total of 5 euros! 

Today, I brought in pictures of Iowa, Sioux City/Sergeant Bluff, and Ames and I talked about Iowa with a 5th grade English class. I think I was asked at least four different times which place I like better... Iowa or Caceres? They wouldn't let it go until I said Caceres... :)

After school, I went to Liceo to set up my schedule so that I can get help with my Spanish and plan some of my lessons. Then I went to tutor a 16 year old girl to help her with her English for a half hour, and then her mom (one of the teachers at the school) helped me with my Spanish for a half hour, which was VERY helpful!

Also, some good news! Starting next week, I'm going to start working at the school twice a week in the afternoons to help organize some activities in English with about 10-15 students... which will give me some extra spending money :)

Hasta luego!

Shea