Day 19: TTMadrid & SIM Card!

Thursdays are a pretty wonderful day of the work week, as I only have three classes and don't have to show up to the school 'til 12:15. But Fridays? Fridays I only have a class of 2nd graders and a class of Sophomores and I'm out by 1:15! Oh yeah!

Today I used the opportunity of extra afternoon time to (wo)man up and embark on the Adventure of Removing Mr. Nose Wart & Co. Yesterday's successful foray into the use of the Spanish language to ask for a facial defuzzing session definitely gave me a little boost of confidence for today's mission. I looked up the nearest dermatologist in my insurance booklet. I walked there using nothing but my brain for a GPS devise. I entered the building using my best "Oh, it's cool - I know what I'M doing!" posture, but after wandering around a snaking waiting room/hallway corridor thing, quickly returned to the front and waited for the receptionists to get off the phone. Over all, the exchange was successful, though a little nerve-wracking (although, I'm happy to report, I actually didn't mess any words up and she understood me perfectly and I understood her perfectly! whoa!), and I have a Wart Murder Party planned for Tuesday after teaching! WOOHOO!  If all goes as planned, the sucker will be once again off my face (hopefully for more than 6 months this time... rawr)!!

After a victorious walk home and a tasty lunch, it was time for our first Master's class at the Universidad de Alcala. I was delighted to read on my Facebook feed earlier that my teacher would be from TTMadrid's TEFL Institute!

A little background info: When I found out in the mid-spring that I had been placed on the wait-list for this Master's program - a program to which I'd previously been accepted the year before and told to just illegally stay in the country to do the program since I didn't have enough time to obtain my student visa - I was beyond upset. And so I set to finding a better program that would recognize how lovely I was and accept me with open arms. That's when I found TTMadrid. They had the absolute highest rankings for a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) school and guaranteed jobs to their graduates and had glowing review after glowing review from their alumni. I immediately conacted them and they were super sweet and wonderful. So when I was informed I had finally actually been accepted to the Master's program at the university after all, I really didn't know what to do at first. Master's degree on full scholarship, or a fairly expensive program that has the highest rankings in all of Spain, and some of the highest in Europe, and with a guarantee of a job after graduation? I talked it over with a few close people and decided on the Master's program - I could always do the TTMadrid program later, but a full scholarship Master's degree was a pretty rare opportunity.  And so I made my decision.

So when I read my Facebook feed today and saw that TTMadrid had posted in their status that two of their main teachers were going to teach at the Universidad de Alcala this evening, I was BEYOND excited!!! I quickly wrote them to ask which teacher I would receive and they wrote me right back and said I'd love him!

And indeed I do!

Our teacher this weekend is just wonderful. The class is on English grammar and today in just 4 hours we went over all the tenses in English, their forms and the rules for when to use them. We also had to get into tiny groups and teach one of the tenses for 10 minutes using the activity stratagies he'd been teaching us all of class - he'd point them out as he was using them while teaching us the grammer - very clever! He's really funny and the class is very light-hearted but extremely informative. I see why TTMadrid has received such wonderful reviews and ratings!! I'm really excited that it turns out that they're going to be a huge part of this Master's degree (our final thesis can be based around their theories of teaching TEFL and we can observe six of their classes and then have them observe six classes we give and get one-on-one feedback from their top instructors! OMG!)! Finally one decision I'm seeing I totally made right - who would have guessed my Master's degree would be partially taught by the TTMadrid folks!?! AMAZING!!! ^_^ PLUS their program was a few thousand dollars, and with my scholarship, their TEFL certification is only 250 euro, AND I still get to hold the title of a Master's degree recipient. Spainish Adventure Win #2 (next to this awesome apartment with nice roomies I found after only a few hours here!).

I would say learning that TTMadrid was going to be a crucial part of my Master's classes has been the best thing to happen to me so far in Spain. ^_^ WOOT.

After I got home and had a most wonderful Skype session <3, I heard the doorbell ringing and quickly realized it was my Spanish brother, Jorge, with my SIM card for my cell phone!!! ^_^ 19 days in and I have a real, working, pink SMARTPHONE!!! YAY! The coolest part is, it's unlimited everything - voice, messages, data, internet - for 30 euro per month! WHAT!? I was paying close to $100 in the US for that. Jeeze!! Anyway - I can now txt everyone in the world with a smartphone who has the app called "Whatsapp." So go download it! And after you do, send me an email and I'll add you to my phone! ^_^ YAY!!!

And that's enough excitement for the day. Bed time. Eleven hours of class tomorrow... so glad it's with someone who's a wonderful teacher and is teaching me things I'm truly interested in!! ^_^

XOXO