Paris: Day 2

Up early again for another fun day in Paris! As we headed out for another adventure, we walked into snow! I had seen snow on the forecast, but didn't think anything about it. In Kentucky when it calls for snow it rarely happens. But in Paris, when it calls for snow, it snows.

We headed out first to find the catacombs as it was a must see for all of us. But when we got there, it was closed until further notice. We were really bummed that we couldn't go in. But we picked ourselves back up and moved on to the Pompidou building.

The Pompidou building is very interesting, with all kinds of different structural designs on the outside. When we got there, the building wasn't open yet and the line was already down the street. We decided that it was too cold to wait in the line, and that since all the cool structural elements were mainly on the outside, we would just look and move on.

From there, we headed to Notre Dame. It is so pretty! the building is impressive itself, but inside is beautiful too. The stained glass is so colorful! Inside mass was taking place. I listened for a little while, then moved on.  We went up the towers too. There were so many stairs!!! By the time we got to the top my calves were on fire. But we made it and took some cool pictures from the top. We could see all around Paris. From here we spotted La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, and decided to go there next.

On our way to La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, we ran into another group from Western in Paris. It was such a coincidence! They told us it was worth it and to continue on with our venture, which we did. When we got there, they had just started mass, so I listened for a while here, then continued on looking. It was really nice inside. Outside there was another Christmas market we walked around, before heading back to the city.

After  La Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre, we headed to the Louvre. This building is so huge and impressive with all the art, we could not hope to see it all. Plus we were all exhausted from all the other sight seeing we had done, so we weren't at our best nor as appreciative of the art as would have been if we had just been starting out our day. But the museum was  free at this time, so this is when we went. It was still really cool! We saw all kinds of different pieces of art. We saw crown jewels, paintings, sculptures, a sarcophagus, and objects. We saw many famous things that I remember from history, and I took my picture with the Mona Lisa!

This trip to Paris was definitely an amazing trip. I saw so much and it was just overwhelming. I am so glad we took this trip on our long weekend, because there is just too much to see, otherwise. Now I can say that I have been to Paris too!

Paris: Ready, Set, Go!

For our long weekend, a group of us went to Paris! It was so exciting, fast-paced, and exhausting at the same time. Since we only had two days there, we got down to business.

On Thursday we saw Versailles! The palace is so beautiful! Everything is so beautifully decorated and impressive. And there is so much history there. We walked through the gardens around the palace, but since it is so cold, the statues have all been covered, the fountains are turned off, and there is nothing blooming. I bet is is really pretty when it is warm though. I would like to go back and see it someday.

After Versailles we headed to the Eiffel Tower. That is one tall monument! We had to walk a long ways away to be able to fit the entire thing in the picture with us. The Eiffel Tower is very impressive. And there are soldiers walking around it with guns. I didn't realize it would be so heavily guarded. Though this is one of the things you should definitely see when you go to Paris, we did not go up. We stayed on the ground and just took pictures of it. But we did come back later that night when it was all lit up for more pictures.

After being outside at the Eiffel Tower, we headed inside at the Musee d'Orsay. This museum had beautiful paintings from different time periods. The one I enjoyed the most was Impressionism. Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, Pissaro, and others were included in this exhibit. I love the colors and brush strokes. I aslo liked watching the paintings progress through time.

Back outside we went after the museum. We walked through the Tulleries Garden, but it was too dark to see anything. Then we walked down Champs-Elysees. This street was super busy with all the stalls out for the Christmas market. But it was so cool to see what everyone had to sell. After walking a ways the shops were repeats, but we kept going because we were going to walk all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. We made it, but it took us over an hour to get there. By the time we did, we were freezing! So we took our pictures and left. We went back to the Eiffel Tower for night time pictures, then headed home. This was a very busy, cram packed day. We had seen so much of Paris, and were exhausted!

Last week of school!

Ms. Mila is back!!! After her whole week away, she has recovered from her lack of voice and is back at school. Today the boys took an English exam. They did not do as well on these as they did not the science exams. The science exams were really good! Only three students total did not pass out of both classes. I was so pleased to hear this. It makes me happy to know they do well, especially with work I help them with. The first grade girls practiced their Christmas carol today. It is a song I have never heard before, called Hush, There's A Baby. They are so cute! They are very good at their song, too. They know all the words, but they don't always know what comes next because the song goes back to the beginning in the middle and repeats.

My last day was a sad one. The boys were sad to see me go. They made me pictures and postcards. One boy even made me a 3D representation of the school made from paper. It was impressive and so sweet. As a parting gift, I gave each boy coins from the US. They were so excited and wanted to show everyone. I explained what a nickel and a dime were, how much they were worth, and whose face is on each coin. Then we took a picture as an entire class.

It makes me sad to go, but I had a great time here. I learned so much with those boys. I now know what it is like to be in a classroom and not understand the language being spoken. My classroom management skills have improved after my week alone with the boys while my teacher was sick. It is great to go to another country though and see how they go through their school day and school year. Spain emphasizes different aspects than we do in the US. I would do it all over again. It was a great experience!!!

Lets do it again...

Ms. Mila is not here again today. But I am now used to this and know what to do! Each day I receive a plan for each class. I then fulfill it to the best of my abilities. Since the science exam was yesterday, today we should have started new material. But for today we continued reviewing and summarizing what they had already learned. Ms. Mila wanted to start the SUNRISE project, but she wants to be here for it. In the afternoon, we reviewed and practiced using vocabulary. The looked at a poster and wrote sentences using can, can´t, like, and don´t like. The boys are very good at this and like participating in the class. This lesson goes very well!

 Each class I am supposed to have a teacher in the class with me. However, sometimes the teacher doesn´t show up until halfway through the class. Most of the time the teacher didn´t even speak English, so I am still teaching all the classes. This is good thuogh. It shows the teachers here that I can teach and take on this responsibility and it helps me improve my classroom managements skills.

Don´t panic!

Tuesday Ms. Mila did not come to school at all. Thank goodness I knew where to go and  roughly what to do because no one came to tell me until after first period. My first class was girls art and towards the end I ran out of paper for them, so I told them to help the others. In the next classes the boys were taking a science exam. This is good. I was glad to have something to do with them. But there was one question they didn´t understand, so I had to explain it to them over and over. With the next class, I drew the chart on the board and showed them the vocabulary they were supposed to use. I then erased it before passing out the exams. I don´t know that this was the best idea, but they used the vocabulary and not a check or an x in the chart. I didn´t give the answers, just the options for each section. They knew what the vocabulary was, but there wasn´t instructions for the question, so they didn´t know how to answer.

In the afternoon it became a little more hectic. The instructions Ms. Mila left said to finish the activity we started the day before, but most had finished it, and a few only had a little left. So after they finished their work they practiced the Christmas carol, The Kings Are Coming to Town ( set to the tune of Santa Claus is coming to town, but they don´t celebrate Santa here). Then we played hangman using the animals and habitats from the exam they had just taken. Trying to keep them quiet was difficult, since they were all at different stages. But we made it through the day.

Just another manic Monday...

When I came to school on Monday, my teacher was hoarse. I knew that she would be leaving after lunch and I would have to teach, but now I was teaching all day. The day started alright and the students were responsive and engaged as I taught- after they had settled down. It took 20 minutes for me to establish myself as the teacher, while Ms. Mila worked with a student out in the hall. But after that they cooperated, were good, and did their work. The next class was the same, but it took Ms. Mila coming back in the class for them to straighten up. My classroom management skills have improved, but still not enough to continually keep them focus on their task, especially those that don´t speak English. One student and I are interacting much better now. This is a great improvement because he now sees me as a teacher and that he should listen. It took a lot of nos to get there though. I don´t think anyone has ever inforced no with him before. But there are other students who do not listen to me at all because they just don´t want to. Nothing is enforced here.I knew coming here that there was little classroom management, but I assumed the students would listen and obey if they understood what was asked of them. These students do not. I hope we build more of a relationship soon.

WEEKEND!!!

This weekend we had a lot of fun, but also some scary times. Audrey had an allergic reaction on Friday night and I had to take care of her. I was afraid we were going to have to go to the hospital at one point, but the Benadryl finally kicked in. On Saturday, we went to the Picasso museum. It was very nice inside. There were lots of beautiful pictures. Most we by Picasso, but a few were by others who had worked with him. We even saw some of Picasso´s pottery. On Sunday, we met Audrey´s teacher, and she showed us some fun places to go. We began at at tapas bar, and saw the beach. We were so excited to actually get to see the beach. We out our feet in the water, and the Joshs went swimming! We continued walking around and it was a great day. This weekend was kinda laid back, but still a lot of fun. It is great to see such amazing things here in Barcelona, and to meet such wonderfull and kind people.

Week 2

This week in Barcelona was pretty good. I am getting used to the way of the classroom more, and I am better at finding my way around school! That was definitely a success. In the class I am still doing some busy work, which is fine, but I am more involved with the students now. I take them out in the hall and review for their big science exam. I have even taught a few lessons. The science lesson did not go so well, because they don't tell you that you are teaching until you walk in the door for that class. But the English lessons I have taught went well. The students were eager to participate for me, once they calmed down enough and realized it was time to learn. The class is definitely much calmer this week. They are getting used to me and I am getting used to them.

Everything here in Spain is so laid back. The teachers don't plan ahead as much as we do. There are lesson plans, but it's more of an outline that you will get to in the near future. The kids can be really smart. They know the vocabulary, but I don't see when they learn it. Since I have been in the class, only one new lesson has been taught in science, and two new lessons in English. Most days the students don't even have English because they use that time to review for the science exam. I would like to see what it is like when they aren't preparing for an exam to get a better sense of how the students learn.

This week was Thanksgiving. The school sent a prayer to the teachers to say for thanks giving. They also served turkey for lunch, which was a big deal since they don't eat a lot of turkey. When talking with the teaches I could tell that they would have preferred a different type of meat, but they knew this was a custom that we celebrate. The students made us a sign that said Happy Thanksgiving. It was so nice! Everyone is very friendly, even if they don't speak English.

I am having a great time here in Barcelona! The weather is nice. I don't really wear a coat anymore because I would get too hot walking around. At night we mostly go back to our room. Jane and I tried walking around our home stay to see what was around, but there isn't much around us. Mainly restaurants. On Thursday night was a special night of shopping, similar to Black Friday. We went out, but it was too crowded that some we getting claustrophobic and we couldn't arfford any of the stores anyway. But it was really fun to go see all the people out! The lights are also beautiful. The lights have been up since we arrived, but they weren't turned on until Thanksgiving. They are so pretty all lit up at night. There are chandeliers, snowflakes, and other shapes that light up the streets at night. This city is so beautiful! I can't wait for more!

1st Weekend!!!

Friday:
As it was a weekend in a foreign country, I refused to sit at home and let it pass me by. So we went out after dinner to walk around our area and see what was around. So after dinner we went out around 9:30. People seem to stay out later, since they eat later here. So we thought this would still be an ok time. It wasn't. The area we are in isn't touristy enough for shops to stay opened. But we walked around and tried to find a park in Gracia. Though we didn't actually do anything but walk around and talk it was a lot of fun just to get out of our room. It was a good Friday night.

Saturday:
Saturday was the best day ever! We met the group (Lauren, Josh B, Josh W, Kristen, Jane, Audrey, and me) at Sagrada Familia and walked around the outside. That is one super impressive, unfinished building! It is definitely a sight to see. We did not go inside though, because it cost 17 Euros. So we continued on to Park Guell. This is a very pretty park designed by Gaudi. We saw lots of mosaics. We took tons of pictures around and went off-roading with our hiking. We saw the famous lizard and the columns that look like trees. We even took pictures with the red towel! It was nice. We then continued on to Montjuic. This is a beautiful fountain that lights up and plays music only on Friday and Saturday nights. Most people sat on the steps and watched the show; however, we decided it was much better to dance to the music. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves here and had a blast! What a great day!!! :)

Sunday:
After sleeping in some, I went to church. I knew I wouldn't understand exactly what they were saying, but I had hoped to understand some. However, I think the mass was said in Catalan, or it was just super fast Spainsh. Not much understanding took place, except for the parts that I knew where to respond. But it was still good to go. After church, the group met up again to go see the port. We got all the way there, but then it started to rain. :(  We had lunch while we waited for the rain to stop. The lunch was good and a reasonable price, but the price for the drinks was ridiculous! We were not informed it would be 5.50 Euros for one coke! We definitely learned to ask how much drinks are from now on. The rain had let up when we finished eating, but we decided  to go back to Sagrada Familia to do some souvenir shopping. That was a good success and most souvenirs were completed with this trip. All in all it was a good weekend! :)

Busy Work :/

Today at school, I did a lot of busy work for my teacher. Yesterday I hole punched and organized a two inch stack of assessments and organized them by student and class. Today I hole punched another three inches, graded an English assessment for two classes (with nothing to go on except A= very good, B= good, and C= ok), graded artwork (with the same guide as the English assessment, except I was grading how well they colored and stayed in the lines), and took down and hung different artwork in the hall. I know all these things need to be done, but I wish that I could be in the class more. I was out of the classroom for almost 1.5 hours after the hour of free time I was allotted. My teacher told me to finish the work and then come back. And all the work wasn't done then! I took down artwork on my lunch break, and hole punched the rest of the papers during class after lunch. My teacher is nice and seems to want to collaborate and included me with the class, but I just wish I would stay in the classroom more. I'm here to learn, not to do busy work.

After school today, Audrey and Laura found a neat little store with a Bohemian atmosphere. They said it was really cool and Audrey wanted to go back for a blanket she didn't have enough money for earlier. It was an interesting store. It had a lot of colorful things in it. The items were all nice, but not quite my style. I did find one item that I thought was really neat, but it was 300 Euros. It wasn't neat enough for that price! The store did not end up having the blanket that Audrey wanted to buy, and the store owner wouldn't sell the one in the window, so no purchases were made on that trip. After leaving the store, we walked back towards our home stay and found a little restaurant. We stayed there for a little while before returning home. It was a neat little adventure for the afternoon, and it didn't stop there. We came back to the home stay, and Jane walked Lauren to the metro, so she could go back to her home stay. However, after walking Lauren to the metro, Jane never came back. After 1.5 hours, Audrey and I went out looking for her. We walked to the metro, around the block to the restaurant we had been at, and back to our home. We were going to go up to our room to try and find another way to get a hold of her, but when we got there, she had just returned. We told her we had been concerned and had gone to look for her. She said she didn't think anyone would notice her absence. We sure did! But all's well that end's well and everyone is back safe and sound.

Dinner:
Dinner tonight was Turkey, peas, carrots, and potatoes over rice; salad; and an orange flavored creme roll. The main dish was really good. It reminded me of roast, potatoes, and carrots at home, just with a different meat. The dessert was alright. It had just a hint of orange flavor and was a little dry and bland otherwise, so I wasn't that impressed with it. But there will be other nights with dessert I'm sure.

STRIKE!!!

Today was the day the whole nation of Spain was going to strike. The metros were going to run with 1/3 of the trains it normally does, and it was only running from 5-9:30 and 4:30-10. So to get to school on time, we left at 7. We waited about 15 minutes for a train to come on our side of the tracks, and then it was the only train we couldn't take! But after 5 more minutes, another train came and we got to school with plenty of time.

School was long again today. I'm still not feeling my best, but it was better than yesterday. My first class period was spent standing outside the art room waiting for students to bring me modeling clay. The second class was good. I checked student work as they wrote sentences in English. The rest of the day was fine as well, but I spent a lot of time hole punching assessments and organizing them by their name. However, the teacher's stack is so larger that in an hour, I only got through half!

On our way home, we passed a row of police vans. They had mosso de escuadra on the side of the van and the police officers had bullet proof vests on. They looked like the equivalent of the US S.W.A.T. team. It was impressive. since it was still early there wasn't an overwhelming amount of people out yet. But people were already protesting. Right as we reached our home people began marching down the street. The number of people still wasn't took large so we went out and took pictures. Later the real march took place. The streets were packed and the people walked by for over 30 minutes non-stop! It was impressive. There were whistles blowing, and cannon noises, horns were honking, and people were chanting. At this point there were too many people and we just watched from the window, but we took some more pictures.

Day 3 (belated)

Day 1 was our first day at the school in Barcelona!!
It was very exhausting, as I did not feel well, and I was still trying to catch up to the time zone. I met my teacher and she seems nice, but she doesn't always explain what is going on. I am used to being more involved with the kids. But the day went fine. Everything people said about classroom management is true. I am in a classroom with 3rd grade boys most of the day. They are always out of their seats, yelling across the room, and calling out without raising their hand. In the US we would give a signal and calm the students back down, but here there is nothing occasionally my teacher claps twice and tries to get them quiet, but they talk over her and it doesn't work. It makes it very frustrating! But the kids are nice.

The students speak Spanish way more than they are supposed to, but my teacher doesn't say anything about it. I was told by the other teacher I go to, Miss Alex, that the teachers change their names to non Spanish sounding names, so the kids will think they only speak English and only address them in this language. It works well in Miss Alex's class, but not so well in mine. If Miss Alex says something the girls don't understand, then she has students in the class, who understand English well, translate to the other girls. In my classroom, my teacher switches between English and Spanish. On one hand this is good because it is making a connection for the students so they understand more, but it is also a disservice. The students will respond and ask questions in Spanish, which isn't helping to improve their English or their conversation skills. After being in both classrooms, I think it works better in Miss Alex's classroom. The girls are using more English and are improving their skills. They really believe she doesn't speak Spanish, and so they use English when they address her. But it could be because of the age difference, too. The third grade boys may know they can get away with it and that is why they do it.

Dinner:
For dinner, we went out for Jennifer's birthday. We walked around and a guy convinced us to go to this restaurant and we got free passes and a free drink. We were with a large group and agreed. It was right on the main road. We went in and it was a very nice restaurant. However, there wasn't much on the menu we found appetizing, so we left. We finally ended up at Hard Rock Cafe, where she had wanted to go in the beginning, but others had said no to. I didn't really want to spend a whole lot of money, but there wasn't anything cheap on the menu. So instead I ordered a vanilla shake and a side of french fries. The milkshake was good, but the fries weren't all that great. But the adventure was fun :)

Day 2

Today we went to tour the school we will be teaching at. I think we took over 25 turns and I know I'm going to be hopelessly lost! Hopefully I learn my way around soon. But it is a nice school. We had an orientation and one of our last meetings with Kristen. We learned our expectations and responsibilities at the school and now understand our schedules a little more. We also received lunch vouchers for 10 free meals each at the school. They are so nice! So far everything is going smoothly. I hope it continues that way tomorrow.

After leaving the school, we went back to the center for lunch and to pick up a few things at the department store. We walked down to the sea after lunch. It is so beautiful there. On our way we saw street performers. They were painted statues and they were incredible! One guy was dressed like some kind of monster and he was not still. He scared people as they walked by and as they took a picture with him. Christopher Columbus and a cowboy were also not still and posed with people for pictures. But the other performers were still.

At the department store we were looking for straighteners and adapters. Look for a straightener in the US that can be brought with you!! Straighteners here are 30 Euros. That's $41.70 for the cheapest straightener! Also, bring all the makeup you need with you. It is also super expensive here. But the adapter was fine. It was only 10 Euros, so $13.90. I feel that is a reasonable price, and as cheap as you would find it in the US.

Dinner tonight was mushroom soup. It was yummy and filling. After soup we had tortilla potata and emanada   tuna. I tried the empanada, but wasn't a huge fan so I just had one. I did not try the tortilla potata because I was too full. I hope dinners continue to be this good. She says she likes to cook, so I think they will be.

And the adventure begins...

From Nashville  to New York to Barcelona. I finally made it! It has been a long adventure to get here and it only continued as I tried to adjust to this time zone, seven hours ahead. However, today was a good day. I unpacked and settled in, then went and saw some of the places around my home stay as we went to meet up with the group at Cafe Zurich. On our way to and from meeting the group, we had some trouble finding our way. I hope tomorrow goes better and we become more proficient at navigating around the city. With the group we saw some of the sights and went inside a beautiful cathedral. Today was a great day to go adventuring. It wasn't too cold, unless you stood still too long. 

We gave Gloria her gifts after dinner, which she seemed to like. Gloria speaks Spanish. But she can speak a little English, so when we have trouble fully understanding she will try in English. However, she prefers to speak in Spanish. I catch a few of the words, but not enough to hold a conversation. Thank goodness Audrey speaks Spanish to help translate. Otherwise there would be a lot more hand gesturing going on here.

Dinner was delicious tonight. We had arroz con pollo con juegos (hard boiled)  y salados. It was warm and exactly what I needed after a long day.

I am definitely going to enjoy my time in Spain :)