Settling In

Yay, I’m writing again!
So I have a few random little anecdotes along with some actually more substantial events that need recounting, so hopefully I’ll achieve a nice balance of both here.

This week at work I got to spend significantly more time interacting with students, rather than sitting in classrooms observing and meeting with teachers. In each of the classes, I have 30-45 minutes to do some sort of lesson, preferably one that relates to the current curriculum that they are doing for that particular class. For example, one of the classes I will be helping out with is actually a math class, so part of the time I taught the how to say math terms like “10 to the fourth” and “4 cubed”. It was pretty fun and went pretty well, but it was definitely spur of the moment since I didn’t know what was going to be taught until right when I got there! Next time, I hope I can coordinate a little better with the teacher beforehand, so I feel a little more prepared when I go into the classroom.

Since it was my first time in many of the classes, I spent my alloted time doing some basic introduction activities. I introduced myself, told the students where I am from, what my family is like, what I like to do for fun, my favorite food, etc. I did all of this in English, so it took some effort to speak more slowly than usual and enunciate extra clearly. Hand gestures were also very useful. After I finished talking, each student took turns saying “Hello, my name is ____. I am from ____” and say whatever else they knew how to say in English. I was pretty impressed with some of these kids (8-9 years old) who could tell me which sports they liked to play, their preferred foods, and how many siblings they have. At the end, I let them ask me any questions that they had (in Spanish) and I answered them (in English).

Some of my favorite questions included:
Do you like hamsters?
What is your boyfriend’s name?
What is your favorite NBA team?
Is England beautiful?
Obama or McCain?


While I’m thinking about humorous student interactions, here’s a (translated) conversation I had with one of my youngest students Isabela, age seven.

Isabela: Colleen, guess what? Elizabeth (the other English Auxiliar at my school) taught me how to say my name in English!
Me: Oh, that’s great! What is it?
Isabela: It is Isabel
Me: Wow, good job! Hey, I was wondering, how do you say my name in Spanish?
Isabela: *short, contemplative pause* ... I’m pretty sure that it is some sort of vegetable.

And then she left with her friend to go to recess.

After telling my coordinator the story, we came to the conclusion that Isabela had resourcefully conjured up the word for cabbage, or “coles”, as a translation for my name.

I love the things that come out of these kids' mouths.

***

Another exciting new thing I got to do at work (this time at the secondary school) is help teach a PE class. The current section is basketball, so I got to learn bball terminology in Spanish so that I could teach the kids words in English. For those interested, my Spanish vocabulary now includes “bote” (dribble), “hacer pasos” (traveling), and “hacer dobles” (double dribble). I’m excited to keep working with both schools, as the teachers seem friendly and supportive, and the kids are fun to work with.

Other important things accomplished this week:
1) I opened my extranjero bank account, so I have somewhere to deposit my paycheck when I get it at the beginning of next month. :) This was a relatively simple process. I had to bring my passport along with a few letters from la Junta (the regional government), saying that I was a legitimate employee and would be earning money and that they should let me have an account. After about 25-30 minutes of sitting in a chair watching the nice banker lady type information and verify my identity a few times, everything was good to go.
2) I went to the oficina de extranjeros to apply for my foreign resident identfication card. This seemed to go just fine… more letters from the Junta, some photocopies and other paperwork, patient line-waiting, and a return trip to the office should get me my Spanish ID… we’ll see for sure when I go back!

Well, that should give everyone a little taste of the kind of thing I’ve been up doing as of late. I haven’t gone out or done any day trips or anything yet, but I’ve really just been enjoying settling in to my apartment, hanging out with Rosa and Vicky, and walking around Cádiz. I’m sure I’ll explore the surrounding area in time, but until then, I’m just enjoying what’s right here in front of me!

If you click on the picture below, you'll get to see some more of Cádiz :)

From Más de Cádiz