Well, I know most of my posts have been pictures of my trip, which I am sure you LOVE to see. However, in this post I am going to break down my trip day by day for you so that you may truly have a feeling of what life has been like for me lately.
I have officially been in Barcelona now for 8 days. I honestly can´t believe it has already been 8 days. I completely feel so at home here. My host family is amazing; I feel as though I am in my own home with them! I live with Itzair, Miquel, Pau and Aran. Pau is 18 and Aran is 8. They are so wonderful. Aran struggles some with speaking English. I try to understand him but sometimes it is very hard. Miquel also speaks some English but some of it is very broken and hard to understand. Itzair and Pau speak perfect English and we carry on full conversations all of the time. My Spanish has gotten much better since I have been here. However, my students and host family laugh at me sometimes when I say things wrong, I can´t imagine what I sound like to them speaking their language. Here I am a country, American girl trying to speak Spanish... I can only imagine haha.
In the classroom I work with a WONDERFUL mentor named Abbey. She is from England and talks with a British accent, I LOVE it! She is delightful and is always in a good mood like I am! She is so sweet and she gives me FULL control of her classroom. It is great, by my 4th day I was already teaching full lessons! So far I have taught geography and science. I love science, so that was wonderful. I also love social studies but it was rather hard for me to teach climate. I had to research the climate of Spain and I have to teach a whole unit about climate. I know that I will have to research every night so that I sound as though I know what I am talking about when it comes to Spain´s climate. Abbey is truly wonderful, I honestly have gotten so lucky. My host family is the best and so is my cooperating teacher at St. Paul´s. I dont know how I am so lucky?!
Pau and I went to the city one night we rode the tram and then the metro to a beautiful place called Montjuic. It was a phenomenal day! We walked and talked until we got to the castle and then we walked all the way up the castle and saw the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. We walked and talked for hours. Our personalities and our sense of humor is nearly the same, so we had a blast! We got lost a few times and found a hidden Greek theatre. A man was playing guitar and singing at the theatre and it was really quite wonderful. After that we walked down to a place called Montaditos where we had some tapas and a drink. After that we walked all the way back to Montjuic where we saw a fabulous and extravagant light and fountain show! It was beautiful! After that we went for a walk around the city... yes, people here walk MORE than you could imagine!!! The metro, tram and train are the only ways to get around here. They are insane to figure out alone, I am so happy I had Pau to help me figure them out!
School has been wonderful. The children in year 6 that I teach are all around 11 years old. The children here however are quite different than American children. They are VERY loud and talkative. Even if you ask them to be quiet, they continue talking. Mostly all of the teachers at St. Paul´s are from England. They are all very strict. I have found myself become much stricter on the children here. My teacher, Abbey even said that I have wonderful classroom management and that I don´t tolerate bad behavior from the students. I have to get onto them more, but they are also VERY intelligent. I truly believe that Spain´s education is WAY ahead of ours in the states. Partly, I think it is because the students learn Spanish, Catalan, French, and English at school at St. Pauls. The young boy who rides with me to school goes to a German school after school everyday where he also learns German. These students are so much ahead of ours in the states because their minds are constantly processing different languages CONSTANTLY. Literally, every other class they speak a different language... it is AMAZING! The teachers even say their being lazy when they speak Spanish. We dont consider our students lazy fro speaking their native language. It is really amazing to see. When I get back to the states I VOW to take more Spanish classes. I love the culture and the language... not to mention, I love the people here!
My host family took me to see The Cathedral of Barcelona. It was the most amazing sight I have ever seen. The architecture is like nothing I have ever laid my eyes on. It is so intricate and truly beautiful. I also saw the Columbus statue pointing to America, Gaudi works of architecture, and many many many art galleries with both modern art and classic art. The rich culture and art here amazes me everyday. It makes me realize how little we value the arts in the states honestly!
Teaching here is making me realize that I need to be more patient with students who are talkative in class. I think I have great classroom management, but since I am in another country maybe I should let them talk a little more since that is what they are used to... I am not sure what is acceptable here and what isn´t.
I honestly love it here, I have not missed my family or my friends yet, so that is a good thing! I am a very independent person. I usually love everything and I am always happy. I love change and I love meeting and interacting with new people. I definitely chose the best place to travel abroad. If you read this and you want to contact me to ask me more questions, please do so.... Well, it is dinner time! So, until next time ADIOS!
THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!
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