Thursday, October 4, 2007

Melrose Blvd...

...is the name of the sign on my classroom door at IH. I have several groups of nine year olds that come to me in classes of eight! Then I have some teenagers and some adults at night. So far, they´ve all been cooperating! I have a circle of desks, a whiteboard, and windows that look out into the square. A flashing green pharmacy sign gets brighter as it gets darker. My classes here start at 3:55 and end at either 8:40 or 10:05pm. I´m still getting used to the schedule, but it´s making the jet lag hard to lose.

I teach one class of nine year olds in a school called ¨Lourdes,¨a very private and prestigious school. For the most part, they´re well behaved. Then, I have about two hours to commute to the other side of the city. It´s only about a fifteen minute bus ride, but the bus is usually packed with kids going home after their school day.

As for my Spanish, I might be able to take classes here at the school, but that hasn´t been organized yet. I am picking up words here and there, but still feel quite helpless. The city itself is pretty nice. There are more shoe shops and boutiques than a girl could ask for and a lot of Spanish architecture. Siesta or ¨lunch break¨occurs from between 2-5 here. Many things are closed and people go home to have lunch and a nap. This is what my adult students have told me.

Valladolid, located in the Castille-Leon region of Spain, has what its inhabitants call, ¨the purest form of Spanish¨in the world. Because I don´t understand Spanish, I can´t begin to differentiate between forms, but just go with it.

I have yet to take any pictures, because I´ve been so busy. But, once everything settles down a bit, I´ll be sure to write more and post some shots.

I have a long afternoon-evening of classes ahead of me, because one teacher quit without telling anyone and we´ve got to sub for him. Adios for now...

2 comments:

jeremy said...

i am so freaking excited kat that i've gone as far as saving your page as a link on my tool bar. that's commitment.

someday i will tell my children about you. through every story will curse the vein of encouragement. go kids, go and live life like kat does.

egeszegedre.

Kat said...

Thanks Jer for being the first to comment on my blog.