It’s cloudy and 81 today. It’s not really hot though, I think because the sun isn’t out…and there’s a breeze!

And with that, it’s all over…the era has ended :/. It was pretty sad; I just have to keep telling myself that I’m going home soon! That cheers me up!

I went to Marina’s 1A class and she wasn’t there; Marisa, the reg teacher, told me she was in 5A because there were several teachers gone today so the present ones had to be shuffled around a bit. We played a couple of rounds of BINGO with vocab from every unit, so it was a bit more difficult.

Second hour I went to 3B stayed only for a short while; I talked with the class for a bit and then said goodbye. From there I went to 2B. It wasn’t Analen’s hour, so I interrupted the class only for a bit. They all converged on me and gave me a ginormous hug…for like ten minutes! They just kept hugging and hugging and were like “Don’t go!” It was hard to leave that class :(. I had planned on going to another, but I didn’t know which one, so I just went to the Sala de Profes for a bit instead.

Third I went to five-years A like always. We sang the usual songs and I read them a story about Max and Poppy who were packing for a holiday (quite fitting, I thought!). I left at “breakfast time” and went to see Marilu in 6A. I hung out and they asked me questions about what I’m gonna do when I get back home, and stuff like that.

Said goodbye to Rocío (who had to go somewhere) and a few others during the break and talked with Mari some more. Analen gave me her email, which I was really surprised about, because normally we don’t “shoot the breeze” (that’s a saying, right?) like I do with Ana and Mari.

Fourth said goodbye to 4B and we took a class photo (Analen brought her camera…I totally didn’t even think about bringing one…STUPID!). From there I went to 6B, hung out and said “gb”. They all wanted my autograph and email…got a little tired after writing that 23 times! I should have put my email on the board…oh, hindsight!

Last hour I went to Luismi’s to say goodbye to 3B. They started giving me pencils and crayons as souvenirs! After that, it was 2A with Ana. Stayed there for a bit and ended with Mari in 6C…again, more autos and emails!

Walked home, for the last time. I think part of me still hasn’t quite grasped that that’s it; I mean it could just be like a long weekend or something. Actually it is for them, because tomorrow is Castilla-La Mancha Day, so EVERYTHING will be closed and the schools extended it to Friday, for an extra day/long weekend.

Now: More packing and other going home preparations.

Xoxo,

Court

This afternoon it’s a pretty cloudy 80 degrees; there’s a nice breeze too, so it’s not hot!

Well, it was my last Tuesday…sigh. Rocío’s classes showed me their dances for the end of the year festival and we sang the songs too—one by Rihanna and the other by a South or Central American singer, not sure which. Technically, I didn’t sing the latter with them, just kinda be-bopped my head!

I didn’t have class with Marina today (1B or 5A) because she was correcting the standardized-ish tests they gave last week. So I had two free hours…which was nice because it was second and fourth hours, so I was off every other hour!

We did a worksheet in Analen’s class where they had to unscramble some words and then count all the food items in the garden and color only what was written. For example, it would say something like “color 19 tomatoes” and there would be like 23. I explained the worksheet and that was it. As we were leaving for recreo they all ran up and gave me hugs and were like “Don’t go…why do you have to go?” That was sad, but tomorrow is going to be brutal!!

Tomorrow…it all ends; two years coming to a close. I think I’m going to Marina’s class as usual, but I told the others I was going to float around and say goodbye to everyone…so very little real class. I don’t know how it’s gonna go; hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. Yes…I have extra tissues.

SIX days.

Xoxo,

Court

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!!

This afternoon it’s 82 with a few clouds; there’s a nice breeze as well, so it’s not bad at all!

Well, it was my last Monday…sigh. This week is both happy and sad; it’s the end of an era. I’m happy to be going home…but I will miss everyone, and Spain!

6A had to do some bookwork because they’re behind the other classes, so we stayed inside and Marilu passed back exams and then came various activities. 6C is all caught up so we went outside in honor of my last day! I can’t think of what this game is called, but we put their chairs in a circle, with one person standing in the middle and then the middle person would call out “All those wearing _______, (socks/a red shirt/glasses/etc) change!” (To practice their clothes vocab). So we had to run and find a new seat…yes, I played with them!

Analen was gone with 2B on a fieldtrip and when I got to 4A José Carlos (the reg teacher) was like “you’re giving class today”. Apparently Analen had assigned activities and told José Carlos to have me facilitate them. It wasn’t hard, but I was just annoyed because she said NOTHING to me about this last week! So they worked and I basically answered their questions…for the last time!

To the three-year-olds I read a new story about Ellie, who was too big to jump rope and play with a car with Dog, Cat and Mouse. In the end though, when their ball got stuck in a tree she was able to help them and all was right in the world! Afterwards we did a worksheet in which they had to put on stickers of Cat and Mouse and color in the dog whatever color they fancied! Yeah, there were lots of purple, green and blue dogs!

Javier called a little while ago and said he couldn’t come today, so that pretty much clears my schedule for more packing…woohoo.

SEVEN days to go…this time next week, I’ll be USA bound!

Xoxo,

Court

This afternoon it’s 79 and completely clear! There’s very little wind, so it’s actually quite warm if you have to be outside for a while!

It was another easy day! I didn’t have class first or third hours because Marina and Ana were helping with the fourth level exams (standardized tests, basically). Second and last hours Luis Miguel and I took the kids outside to play baseball again (hence it being warm if you have to be outside for a while!)…so those hours were basically nothing.

The only real “work” was in 4B with Analen’s class…imagine that! I reviewed some vocab with them and read them a Little Red Riding Hood-type of story. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again…it’s really sad (and annoying!) that first level knows more than they do. I was trying to ask them questions about the story and they just didn’t understand!

I just have tomorrow and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week and that’s it for school! I told all the teachers today that I’m going to go around next Wednesday to all the classes and say “bye”, so I won’t be in their classes officially, but just pop in. I’m kinda happy there’s no real class with 4B again…

This afternoon I’m writing my end of the year letter for the program/tweaking the one from last year…yeah, more so the latter! Afterwards, it’s on to more apps!

Xoxo,

Court

Currently it’s 68 and totally sunny! Now if it could just stay like this! No colder, no hotter (well, maybe a little hotter!)

Yesterday my computer decided it didn’t want to start up. Like, it turned on just fine and then the screen stayed black/gray. It’s done that a few times before and has always started up within the hour…don’t know if it’s updating or what…but not this time! I turned it on a little before 2:30 when a got home and I woke up this morning and the screen was still gray (with the computery humming noise that tells you it’s on).

Perhaps since I’ve been such a job application Nazi lately that was God’s way of ensuring I took a break.  I started to get worried and didn’t really know what I was gonna do! I even borrowed a computer from school and brought it home with me today…I mean, my computer is, like, my life, especially here!

Thanks to the Good Lord above, though, the screen was black when I got home a little while ago, meaning everything had loaded and gone to sleep from inactivity. I was (and am!) so incredibly happy, you would’ve thought I’d been offered a job in Lincoln!

Today could have possibly been the easiest day in my two years here: Rocío had to proctor an exam first hour, so no class. Today there was also a general education strike, so many teachers and students didn’t come.

Marina was there but the 1B regular teacher and like 2/3rds of the kids weren’t…so no class second hour. Analen there today, along with nine students, so we went to the video room and watched Scooby Doo videos. Fourth hour Marina had to fill in for one of the sixth levels because Marilu and someone else wasn’t there…so no class with her fifth.

So the only real class I had was Rocío’s last hour. They’ve started to prepare their song/dance for the end of the year festival (Rihanna’s We Found Love) so I helped with the pronunciation, we sang it and watched a music video. That was my day…pretty relaxing. With all my free time I was able to google tech support and tried to find a computer solution…but I don’t need it now!

Class at 4:30 and 7:30 and in between…more applications. Thanks for the break yesterday, God!

Xoxo,

Court

It’s not as hot as it’s been the last few days; it’s 78 and cloudy…and the wind isn’t hot, so that makes it feel cooler!

After the usual activities first hour with five-years A, we…wait for it…played memory (with TEN flashcards {animals} this time!) Ana gave out some stickers and that was it!

To the morning four-year-olds I reread the story of Poppy’s Hat (for the last time, according to Ana!) Poppy looks everywhere for it and in the end Ellie’s got it! On the worksheet they had to circle all the hats they could find, which were half hidden by certain objects and then on the back they had to draw a picture of her hat (it’s red with yellow stars). We played memory instead with the afternoon littles and later watched a few videos.

We took 2A to the video room third hour and we tried to watch/read a YouTube video of the story “The Little Red Hen” but the signal there is horrible, so it kept stopping! In the end Ana put on a video of Wallace and Gromit, which she’d already downloaded and had saved on her computer.

6B was finishing talking about some history stuff when I arrived. They were watching and reading about Franco. For the English portion of the class we reviewed their vocab (Our Planet/things to do on vacation) and then I asked them “where do you go on holiday? What do you do there?”

I’ve got class at 5:30 and 7:30…Happy Weekend to Me!

Xoxo,

Court

It’s a very sunshiny 81 today! The heat makes me tired…everyday this week when I’ve gotten home I haven’t had any energy…

It was a very easy/relaxed day! With 1A after the usual activities, we talked a bit about the Olympics (well, a very little bit because they don’t know a whole lot yet, but apparently they’re researching it). Afterwards we started a new unit about Places around the City, i.e. park, shops, museum, and street.

We talked about baseball with Luismi’s classes (3A/B). We watched this YouTube video I found about Goofy and how to play the game. Later, we actually went out and played! Or tried to, at least! It wasn’t exactly “baseball” but they really enjoyed it and it was fun to watch them “play”! I think we’ll continue next week…

Ana wanted to go to the infantil video room to watch a few videos before “breakfast”, so that’s what we did! I don’t think she felt like doing anything else! That was totally cool, though, after being outside with 3A I was tired!

Fourth hour Analen asked me if I had an Olympics PowerPoint to show the classes and I was like “why would I?” She wanted me to look for one, but her computer is full of viruses apparently so I went to the video room. Marilu, Pilar and 6C where in there taking an exam, so I talked to them for a bit too!

No class today (thank goodness, I’m tired!). I’m going back to Carmen’s to finish our Sherlock episode at 7:30! It’s a good one; I didn’t want to stop it yesterday!

Xoxo,

Court