“When we tire of well worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view.”
As I sat amidst the teachers at Posadas del Rey, it occurred to me that this is the right place for me to be. I listened to Juan Manuel, who has taken on a paternal role towards me, correct my pronunciation and encourage me to eat more--I felt truly happy.
Pilar also let the cat out of the bag, that she and Juan Manuel were going to surprise me tomorrow with a coffee maker. It made my heart melt. Consider me a soon-to-be aficionado of Spanish coffee.
Today in school, I had to bring in a picture from home to help the students practice using the past tense. I brought in a picture from homecoming last year--Amy, Jamie, Sop and I are all standing on the mall decked out in our U of A gear--and the students said we look like movie stars. They couldn’t believe we were wearing shorts and tank tops in November. I wished the girls were here to hear them talk about it. Also, I haven’t seen it but I guess in the movie Highschool Musical, the school’s team is called the Wildcat’s--so they understood my love for Wilbur. After I introduced the picture and re-read the paragraphs with fill in the blank worksheets, pairs of students came and sat with me and introduced their pictures discussing (who they were chatting with, where were they, what were they wearing, were they having a good time, etc.) and it was very endearing to see pictures of them when they were 8 years old having a birthday party.
I also helped Antonio translate an Art activity today. Amazingly, I could translate complicated paragraphs easily and efficiently with little difficulty or misunderstanding. It helped me feel more at ease, knowing that even if I do not speak Spanish perfectly I am making progress.
Most of the teachers are sick at the moment, Maria Carmen could not go to the beach this weekend because her daughter was so sick--Antonio is recovering, Pilar is sick like me, and the rest are hoping they do not catch it. Yesterday I disinfected the bathroom to hopefully keep my brother from getting sick... My brother who flew first class the entire way to Spain. So jealous.
Anyways, important note--I gave my brother the space heater for his room and took the one that does not work. I have officially completed my sisterly duty for the year.
P.S: My mom sent money to help with the beginning expenses of Spain, $200 which turned into only 135 euros. Ouch. I have to go put money on the USB for internet ( 60 euros for 1 gb of internet..whatever that means. They don’t offer internet w/o an 18 month contract. So I’m kind of screwed on that end.) and 20 euros for my Spanish mobile which will last about 1 1/2 weeks...double ouch. I’m going to start going to the school in the evening to hopefully be able to talk to everybody via skype ( aka, I can call them on their cell phone from my computer to talk) I hate feeling out of the loop.
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