First Day of School!

So as many of you may know, today was my first day of school. It was... PERFECT! But, a lot has happened in between this moment and last week, so I guess I have to start back there. 

Remember how the ATM ate my debit card and the bank said I would be able to get it back in the morning? Well... apparently being in the ATM all night demagnetized the card, and it was rendered useless. Thankfully, just before coming to Spain, I got a credit card to use in case of an emergency and (since I hadn't paid my deposit for my apartment yet), this was an emergency! I got the money out with my credit card and went to finalize everything. The landladies needed my passport information so they could put it in the contract before I signed it, so I paid the deposit and moved in to my new home. Happy dance! So, here, for your viewing pleasure, are some photos of my apartment. 

My bedroom, from the door. A bed, a dresser, a night stand, a window. Needs some decoration!

The terrace for our building, and my clothes hanging on the drying line. 

My living room, 

and dining area! 

Eventually I'll get pics of my roommates up here, but I haven't had an opportunity yet. 

So, I am now living here, except that the process was not as simple as that. The landladies came back the next day with the prepared contract for me to sign, except that, since it was entirely in very technical Spanish, I asked if I could wait for Begoña (my Spanish roommate, who is an English teacher for adults learning about financial English. She studied English and lived in the U.S. for a while, and even knows someone who worked at Truman! Que sorpresa!) to come home so she could help me read it. They said yes but didn't leave the contract, which meant that we would have to read it in front of them the next day (eh, awkward, but whatever). But then there was a bit of drama. Begoña has apparently lived here for two years and almost never saw the landladies, but at some point in the recent past she had a really bad, messy roommate. Now, the landladies are paranoid about anyone who lives here. So, for instance, when they came with the contract, they walked into my room and saw that I had my shoes in the wardrobe. They said nothing about it at the time, but when they came back again when Begoña was home, they brought a tray for me to put my shoes in. Keep in mind that they did not call and tell us they were coming. I was in the middle of cooking dinner and Begoña was exhausted, having just gotten home from work. SO it was really frustrating (more so because I could not express my annoyance without seeming rude, because my Spanish is not that great. Nuance is something you get when you become more fluent than I am). Anywho, when they finally left, I sat down and wrote out a little apology/demand for respect of our boundaries and privacy. (Begoña says they keep insisting they want to be like a family, but I'm like, great, then don't charge me rent, mom). 

Hopefully this has all been settled and they will call us before coming downstairs the next time they decide I'm living incorrectly. 

At this point, Laura, the other girl, has moved in as well. Laura is from Barcelona and is studying for her masters in International Business and likes Breaking Bad. We haven't really had much time to get to know each other yet, but I'm sure we will. She seems very sweet and likes watching TV and has a boyfriend who doesn't speak any English, named Carlos. 

Now, my apartment doesn't have wifi yet (crazy, I know) so I've actually been going out and doing things with my life (CRAZY, I KNOW). I went on a photo shoot of my neighborhood a few days ago, so here are some highlights from that! 

"The warriors" (hmm, very intimidating) "bop" (....)

A weird abandoned building on my street. 

Sunday, Begoña and I went to see the George Méliès exhibit at La Caixa Forum near Atocha. It was really, very cool. If you haven't seen Hugo or don't know a lot about early cinema, I suggest you check out some info on this guy: he was one of the pioneers of moving pictures. Some of his movies are in color because he hand painted each individual frame of the film. Can you imagine the effort it must have taken? Ah! Que Bueno! 

Then, last night (Monday) I met with this guy who wants to do a language exchange, i.e., we meet once a week or so and speak for some amount of time in English, then in Spanish. I don't know if I'll continue or do it very often, not because of wasn't fun but I just really need to do tutoring sessions where I get paid. I feel I'm getting a decent amount of Spanish practice with my roommates and there are language exchanges in Madrid basically every day, so meeting alone with one other person might not be as helpful or as practical as I want it to be. But we had a fun conversation and drank beer and ate spanish ham so yeah! 

Alright, alright, I'll talk about my first day of school! I woke up at 7:30am to get ready and get to school on time. I live in Tetúan and have to take the Valdeacederas metro stop to Chamartín, then switch from metro to trains all the way to Valdelasfuentes stop in Alcobendas, a five minute walk from my school. I got there a good fifteen minutes early and walked around the school a little bit before going to the meeting. There are two main school buildings, once for preschool and 1st and 2nd grade, and the other for 3rd through 6th grade. There is a separate building for the cafeteria, two gymnasiums, and a lot of open playground space in between, some covered, some not. 

I found out that I am going to be with the 3rd graders. There are about 100 3rd graders total, in four different classes (A, B, C, and D). They learn English from 1st grade and are taught science in English as well, so I'm switching between the science and the English classrooms. It's interesting that in elementary school, the students switch classrooms here (not so until middle school for kids in the U.S., if I remember correctly). 

So Kristina (I don't know if that is how she spells her name or not) is the English teacher (who really... doesn't know English very well at all), and Rebeca is the science teacher for the 3rd grade. Kristina actually started as a sub and is not used to teaching English, so I think I'm going to be a big help in that classroom (we are not allowed to speak Spanish to the students, in fact, the students are not even supposed to know that we speak Spanish at all, but Kristina tended to go into Spanish whenever she couldn't think of how to say something in English). She is not in control of the classroom at all, so I think we might need to work together to get the kids' respect. Rebeca seems very in control but very kind and fun to work with. 

The schedule these kids have.... you guys would not believe, and I almost can't believe though I experienced it! They have 45 minutes of recess every day. And then, TWO HOURS for lunch (which they only take thirty minutes for, and the rest of the time, it's another recess!). And then? can you guess? They have P.E. twice a week! So we go to school from 9:30am to 4:30pm and only are actually working in the classes for 4 hours 15 minutes of the 7 hours we're there! AH! I will be amazed if these kids learn much of anything in the course of a year... but then, I can imagine it is so much better for their spirits than the American school system with so much structure and so little free time. Will that make the difference? 

There are five other auxiliares at the school with me: all except one from the U.S. (the other is from Australia). 

And the students are SO PRECIOUS! I can't wait to get to know each and every one of them. I don't know how teachers can learn the names of so many kids in a year, particularly since they have to do it over and over again every year. 

So here are some things I've learned since the last time I wrote. 

1. Computer paper here is longer than in the United States. I don't know why. I have no logical way of explaining this difference. It just is. Not much longer. Maybe an inch. But long enough to be very noticeable to this American. 

2. In Spain, they teach that there are 5 continents. America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceana (Australia and all the Pacific Islands). No North and South America, just America, and no Antartica at all! What! I mean, I guess Antartica really is just ice, but the whole only one American continent thing is still blowing my mind. 

3. THERE IS NOT A SEPARATE NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICAN CONTINENT GUYS. 

4. Madrileños will protest just about anything. I had been told this, but now I have experienced for myself, having seen a protest about the governmental system. I think they just want to get rid of the royal family (not like guillotine, but in the sense that they don't think they should have any power anymore). They have a flag with a purple stripe on the bottom, which doesn't make sense to me because purple is the color of royalty! :/

5. There is a province and city in Spain called Soria. They are very anxious (in a humorous way) that we Americans do not confuse this with Syria and accidentally bomb them. They think this joke is hilarious. 

6. They also think it is ridiculous that any person could possibly be against public health care. They ask me: why? I cannot answer them. 

7. No one has a dryer. It isn't necessary: they all have drying lines! 

Now, I am going to the bar down the street called Cerveseria Marathon, which used to be called Pub to the Future and was Back to the Future themed, and where I go to use wifi when I need to. Buenas Noches! 

Oops: edit: I forgot that, one of the things I did today was introduce myself and say my favorite thing and then ask all the kids their names and their favorite things. After class, one girl came up to me and showed me she had written in her agenda, "Katrina is my favorite." DAWW