Last Week Of School for 2007

This is the last week before school ends, and, as you can imagine, things are pretty hectic! Here are some activities that are going on this week in Almorox:

1) DINNNERS EVERYWHERE! I´ve been invited to quite a lot of dinners, mostly from the teachers of the school. Very exciting! Look forward to eating my face off (to make up for missing Thanksgiving! ;-) )

2) Final Tennis Match. I play tennis about 2 to 3 times a week. This Wednesday are the Finals. I made it into the finals, though there are two pretty good players: me and another girl. The other girl is better than me. But you never know how I will play! Wish me luck!

3) On Friday, we're having a Christmas concert! This is during the school day and all the kids in every class are singing Christmas songs. The first graders are singing Jingle Bells in ENGLISH! The kids have done a great job memorizing the chorus. However, I have to sing along with them. That means I sing the chorus as well as the gingle... and the gingle is by myself (YIKES!). Thank goodness I like Karaoke! :-)

4) Traveling. I fly to Milan on Satruday! WOOHOO! I´m going to spend Christmas with my older sister. Then I go to Rome and spend New Years there with some more family! This is my first New Years over the ocean. Interesting times! :-)

That´s the update! Hope you´re having a great week before the Holidays! :-D

HAPPY (belated) HALLOWEEN!

Though today is officially Thanksgiving Day and I am missing one of the most deliscious meals of the year (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy!! I MISS YOU!! :-) ), I thought today would be a perfect day to share this video.

Since it is my responsibility to represent United States and its culture during my stay here in Spain, I decided to teach one of our most important festivals- Halloween! And I didn´t expect to be recorded. This is the result!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BwbW0aMUTM

PS: Sorry guys! I had to remove the video because of Children Protective Rights (oopppss!) If you want a detail description of the video, let me know! :-)

In Love... Part 2!

As some of you may remember from a previous blog, I had a very young and silent admirer. I was informed sometime in the beginning of the school year that he “loves Melissa!” Then after that, he wasn’t even able to make eye contact with me. However, after working with his class for a month or so, I’d watched him in the corner of my eye, and he acted normally. No signs of blushing or hesitations or looking away when I asked him questions during class. It seemed his crush was over, until…

I was working with the English teacher when she suddenly had to step out. I was left alone to supervise the class when Salvador stood up and started talking to his friend, interrupting the rest of the class. (He’s the type that can’t sit still.) I looked at him and said firmly, in English, “Salvador, please sit down.”

He quickly sat down. But instead of looking upset, I noticed a small little smile on his face. Then, when I looked away, he turned quickly to his friend and with a big happy smile, whispered, “She knows my name!”

Oh boy. Guess the crush is still there!

And guess I’ll have to start memorizing the other kid’s names. :-/

C’est l’amour!

You know you are in a little town when... #4

You know you are in a little town when…

Sheep are walked through town. That’s right! SHEEP! When I first saw them, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There are actual sheep on the streets! And not just a few, but a bunch of them! One of them has a bell around its neck so wherever they walk, I can hear them coming (like a bad horror movie. ;-) ). And that´s when it him me... I am definitely living in a rural town!

By the way, this also solved a mystery I was pondering: where in the world did all this dung on the street come from? Now I know what sheep dung looks like! (A fact I could probably have lived my life without knowing. ;-) )

Kids Say the Darnest Things

At school, I have to pretend I don’t understand Spanish so the children are forced to speak English to me. But I do understand them, and boy, kids DO say the darnest things! Here’s an example:

In the 1^st grade Science class, the kids were practicing the phrase, “How do you say…” For example, the children would say, “How do you say ‘manzana’ in English, please?” And I would reply, “Apple.” And then they’d get excited and say, “OOOHHHH!! APPLE! WOW!” (So cute! :-) )

While practicing this exercise, one of the students (who really struggles with English) suddenly stopped, looked at the teacher, and asked in Spanish, “Profe. Does she only speak English?”

The teacher said, “Yes.”

“All the time?”

“Yes.”

“Even at home??”

“Of course.”

“Oooooffff!!” he said, smacking his head with his hand. “That’s a LOT of work!”

He couldn’t believe someone could speak ONLY English all day! He was struggling with the language so much that it HAS to be a lot of work for me too!

Isn’t that CUTE?!?!? Kids say the darnest (or cutest) things! :-)

Internet

Some of you may be wondering why I haven´t been updating my blog recetnly. I have a good reason! In general, I am now living in an apartment that does not have internet access. The only internet access I have is at school and I can only use it during the limited hours the school is open (and I´m not working!). I do have some storiest I want to share. They will be available soon!

Wanted to let you know what was going on! Till next time! :-)

You know you are in a little town when... #3

You know you are in a little town when...

the nearest movie theater is about 5 towns away, which is about a half hour ride from Almorox!

Too bad I don´t have a car!

Boy, I miss Brad Pitt in big screen. ;-)