My Little Room

Like the view from my little room? It's a subway clinic (whatever that is). Well, stop looking out the window and look around inside!

This is the view I normally have when we start class.

"Good morning class! How are you?"
"I'm fine thank you, and you?"
"Our weather person today is..."

One of my favorite parts of the classroom is the computers. I love them because:

1. They allow the kids to listen to phonics and practice reading.
2. They are very motivating.
3. They give me an even smaller class size.
4. I can show videos in class.

Come stop by the next time you're in Madrid!
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Thievery

I figure out at the end of last week why it seemed that I hadn't been paid this month yet. Good news: I'd been paid. Bad news: some sneaky bugger was siphoning funds out of my bank account. I'm not certain who or how, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a trip to the kitchen with my card at a well known American restaurant (but here in Madrid) allowed some waitress or waiter to copy my card number, plus the security numbers on the back.

I blocked the card Friday, went to the police station the same day with Isma and Tamy, and went back myself Saturday morning since I was missing some documentation. Tomorrow morning I'll go to the bank to file my claim. In a few month I should have my savings back, so I'm not too stressed out anymore. Though you know, I didn't actually get angry. People at work wondered at me, how I could tell the story with a smile on my face. Hmmm. Strange American (or strange me) I suppose.

Don't worry, they took quite a bit, but I had withdrawn from the bank just before blocking my card, so I have money and they didn't empty the account (though they probably would have if I hadn't caught it). So all will be well soon.

And it fits!

A couple of weeks ago I got my engagement ring back from the jewelers (after two size changes it finally fits my tiny finger). Did you know that I have pretty much the same size fingers as my Grandma Vance did? And, I begged Isma to take out his nifty super camera and take some pictures. Here they are:

Weekend in Castellón

Back in September, Isma's family, plus two extra girls, went to Valencia for a weekend to bid farewell to summer at the beach. I suppose that those extra girls, myself and Laura, would more formerly be called girlfriends. We all had a great time...so much so that we didn't touch the camera at the beach. Ah, that explains the lack of photos! We were much too busy swimming, throwing each other in the air, burying each other in the sand, and visiting with their old friends.

For me the highlights were the "women" times in the kitchen with Elena and Laura, tasting Paco's sangria and eating cheese and toasted bread soaked with tomato and ham on top, visiting Regina's orange grove, sketching in the mornings and at the beach, playing padel, and playing in the waves.

Here's some pictures of the trip.

Castellón: Torre Nostra

New Most Delicious Things Ever

No joke. It was like the most delicious thing ever.

Ok, I'm done channeling my cousin Shannon now. :P

Saturday night Isma and I went out to eat and for dessert we shared a cup of panna cotta with wild berries. It's light custard/yogurt-like goodness. Wonderfully amazing. You should try it!

Greek yoghurt panna cotta in blackberry sauce. Photo courtesy of Stu Spivack

Source: http://flickr.com/photos/stuart_spivack/84610490/

Rain Day

Today is the start of a four day weekend for me...so how did I spend it? Doing laundry and then off to Isma's house to eat with his family (aka not cooking myself), lay on the bed and play a game, watch Isma and Guille play flight simulator, and basically do nothing. Did I mention that it's been raining all day? That perhaps explains it. Rain makes for lazy people.

Around 7 Isma and I woke up out of our lethargy and went to buy paddles to play Pádel. Or paddle? Or padel tennis? Anyway, it's like tennis but on a smaller court, with raquets that are more like bats, and the balls are depressurized tennis balls. It's exciting thinking about starting a new activity together. We spent half of dinnertime thinking about who could or would want to come play with us. Hopefully it will stop raining next week and we can try out our new paddles!

If you're curious, here's a link about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padel_tennis .

And here's some pictures of us playing in Torre Nostra:



We're not too good at it, and I uploaded the only picture in which I don't have silly looking form, but let's see how this goes!

What's your name?

His name is Juan, my name is Erica and DON'T YOU FORGET IT.

That's the rhyme I'm teaching the second graders, but I'm still forgetting!
This Monday started the first week with my classes instead of initial evaluations of the kids and preparation, like I was doing before. Twelve kids at a time line up and file into my tiny classroom to play games, get yelled at for talking out of turn, and listen to phonics on the computer. This week also begins an overwhelming endeavor: learning over 200 names. As my mom said, I think that seating charts are in order. Not to control the kids...but to control where the names sit! (Sara is in the right corner...ok...) I was smart and had the third graders make name tags. Hopefully I'll memorize their names quickly and will be able to disuse of the labels.

I have also discovered that I need to give the kids lessons in using the computer, following directions, and being nice. Let's see how I do that all in English for Spanish speakers. I am very proud of myself, though. I have not used Spanish with the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd graders one bit. Yay!