Anyway, I was enthused to see that I will be teaching 6 year olds all the way to 17 year olds this year. I guess I sort of assumed teenagers would have the best comprehension of English, being that they're the oldest, but I'd say thus far the 5th graders really seem to be rocking it. At this school, all the children in the primary classes (1-5th gradeish? I'm still not sure how their grades correspond to our grades) are taught only in English, and made to always speak English. It's really cute seeing 6 year olds racking their brains for the word "bathroom" when they really gotta go. Haha! And then there are the 10 year olds who were learning about cells today in science class IN ENGLISH. Wow. Totally impressed. I didn't even understand that stuff in my native language, much less a second one!
Though this is supposedly considered a very ritzy-titzy private school here in Alcala, the teachers vary from being really great with the kids to being totally uninterested in them and interacting with them as little as possible. The teachers that are good (3/4 of them today) are really fun to work with. The one teacher who is bad (the one that claims to speak English the best, oddly) is really depressing to work with and I just want to bring his class room a bag full of candy and stickers and toys and rescue them.
Best moments of the day:
1) The teacher named Veronica is adorable. She's brand new to the school so we bonded a little bit! She's learned English from watching movies and tv shows and from her father. We were going over school supplies today and they call "erasers" by their British name: "rubbers"!!! HAHAHA. Veronica turned to me when a student asked for a "rubber" and started giggling, saying, "Isn't that just the funniest thing to hear come out of a kid's mouth?! I mean, they don't know what it means to Americans! Haha!" LOL! She followed her comment with a personal quip about her using that word while on her father's American air force base. HA.
2) This same teacher, who I honestly thought was 100% bilingual, was going over food vocabulary and proceeded to pronounce "cucumber" something like "kooKOOMbear." Adorable.
3) I had two separate boys come up to me after class / raise their hand to tell me the score of the last Real Madrid vs. Chelsea soccer match. They were 7 and 8. ^_^ Amazing.
4) I had two classes get excited about my amazing ability to draw a giraffe. Like, seriously. They might have even clapped.
5) I was told by an 8 year old I was "beautiful" and so was the way I wrote my letter 'a's. :o)
After school I went to attempt to open a bank account (for the second time) and, although I'm definitely impressing myself with how much vocabulary I retained from last summer's Spanish Business course here in Alcala, I'm definitely getting frustrated that these two very friendly ladies cannot get the freak'n account opened still. I go back TOMORROW to HOPE they have news. If not, I'll just go in to Madrid to a REAL bank that has been working for other students on Thursday - as Thursdays are apparently the only day in Spain where banks are open past 2:00 pm. Go figure.
While at the mall waiting for the nice ladies to figure out why my account kept getting error messages, I decided it was high time to do a little MANDATORY shopping. Usually, shopping is a big treat and my favorite thing to do. But lately, it's been annoying me. Every time I put clothes on, they don't fit. Like, every single time. I wore these STRETCHY black shorts yesterday and after sitting in them for 7 hours straight I could seriously barely breathe. Then this morning I went to put on a shirt only to realize I only have: t-shirts, sleeping tank tops, spaghetti strap camis, and winter sweaters/jackets. Like, in all honesty, that's it. I swear I used to have clothing. Where did it all go? Oh, that's right, I "matured" an no longer fit in a size 0 or a size XS, which happens to be the only size I've ever purchased in my life it seems. It's weird to think that if all my clothes still fit, I wouldn't have the slightest clue I gained 15-20 lbs since last summer. But when I realize I'm wearing at least two sizes smaller than I really fit in and that's why I can't sit in jeans, well, I start to see my body differently. Ugh. Being a woman.
Anyway, I decided that instead of getting a bunch of cheap clothes I'm not in love with (which is what I almost ALWAYS do because I feel bad spending more than $10-15 on any one garment - unless it's sweats - LOL) and then quickly donate, I'm going to actually invest in a few things that are both adorable AND comfortably fit me. If they're a little more than I'm used to, too bad. Better to have one nice pair of jeans than 3 pairs that don't fit, aren't super cute and I'm not excited to wear. I'm over that "I have clothes in my closet but nothing to wear" conundrum and sentiment. Like seriously.
So today I went to Pull & Bear and bought the jeans I'd been eying online. They're skinny jeans, patterned in a darkish wash, and at least a half size too big so that some day I can wash them and still hope to wear them again without becoming anorexic. I also got 3 sleeveless tops - plain, cheap, etc. - that I can wear with skirts and cute pants and dress up with a scarf. Now, at least, I wont' have to repeat the same outfit in the same week - YAY!
Also today I made my second trip to the Carrefour (the big grocery store). Best thing I found? Colored toilet paper! And I'm talking a rainbow of colors to chose from! Just as I thought it couldn't get better, I saw HELLO KITTY toilet paper. Seriously. No joke. Amazing. My roomies better prepare their booty rump roasts, 'cause they're about to be papered with pink kitties and flying teddy bears as soon as my turn rolls around to buy the TP!!
After my amazing discovery, I was invigorated to do my shopping and bought ingredients for chicken fajitas for the week (they have a nice international foods section - Japanese, Latin American and Romanian are apparently the only international foods worthy of their own corner of the store) and ingredients for this detox water beverage I found on Pinterest. I drank a 12 pack of Shandy in under a week. And that's kind of embarrassing. And probably didn't help with my pants' quest to fit my hips again. SO, I bought lemons, a kooKOOMbear, an orange and sprigs of mint along with a 1.5 liter mason jar. When I got home, I cut it all up, threw it all in the jar and filled it with water. Apparently after putting it in the refrigerator over night, the water becomes appropriately infused and does something magical for your body. And if it doesn't, at least it'll taste good and be really healthy for you compared to just about any other drink that is sold in stores. I tried it tonight and it's actually extremely tasty. :oD
Definite goal: Learn more about food, eat better, learn recipes for cooking cheap, delicious, healthy meals that are unique and keep for a few days. That will most likely become my next Pinterst quest. ;)
And now, it's 1:00 am again somehow and I have cell phone games to play before I can sleep!
XOXO
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