I can’t believe it’s the last day of February! Where has the time gone? According to my weather thing, it’s not that much colder than yesterday—it’s reading 48—but the wind is blowing today and that make a big difference…so it feels colder than it actually is, you know? The sun’s been playing peek-a-boo with the clouds all day, so when the clouds take over, it feels a lot colder too.

Today was fairly easy. I forgot that Pilar told me on Thursday that they have diagnostic testing today, tomorrow and Wednesday, so there wouldn’t be any class with 6C first hour. I would have brought something to do had I remembered, but I didn’t, so I basically sat in the teacher’s lounge and drank one coffee after another (and yes, I had to go to the bathroom a couple extra times today!)

2B was second hour and they started a new unit about clothes. I read over the words with them for pronunciation practice and later I wrote on the board two descriptions of outfits (one boy and one girl…green cap/red and orange sweater/pink skirt/yellow boots…) and had them copy them down and draw/color them.

Third and fifth hours (with fourth hour being my regularly free hour) were 3B and A and as per usual, I sat there whilst they kind of did an activity. Lourdes’ actually class, 3A usually behaves so much better than 3B, but today, I gotta say, I think they were worse. They kept being like “Teacher, what’s that? (she was writing stuff on the board) Can I…?” Teacher this and teacher that…the whole hour! Let’s just say I was glad when two o’clock rolled around!

My lesson with Juan An’s in about 45 minutes. Not sure what we’ll be doing today, since I didn’t have class with him, because of the testing. If nothing else though, I’ll help him with his science…it’s bilingual. I don’t like doing science—I know nothing about it! Sometimes he’s like “How do you say this word/What does this mean?” And I think “Hmm…that’s a good question!” Sometimes we learn together!

Xoxo,

Court

It’s still fairly nice today—about 55. It may be the last one for a few days; it’s supposed to be chiller and rain for the next few days, (better break out the umbrella!) starting tomorrow. We just got back from a walk a little while ago. We walked for about an hour, to the outskirts of town, to the bullring. I thought it was a little chilly before we left the house, but once we were walking, especially in the sun, it got kinda warm. Not nearly as warm as yesterday, though!

Not sure what’s in store for the rest of the day. I know Jesús has guardia at the pharmacy and so Gunita was talking about getting some Chinese and bringing it over. I’m not sure if I’m gonna go though—I have some hamburger in the fridge I need to cook, plus we just went to lunch on Friday and cañas yesterday…so I think I’ll save some money.

Xoxo,

Court

It’s gotta be at least 70 today! My little weather thing says it’s only 66, but I think it’s lying! We went to FeriaStock about 11:45 and it wasn’t nearly as big or cool as I thought it was going to be. Jesús was supposed to come and 11, but then he was gonna come at like 11:30 and pick us up and drop us off and then go back for Teodora and her mom (who’s in town for the weekend). And we were like “well that’s just silly; we’ll walk—it’s such a beautiful day!” So we did and were there for like 20 minutes…it was just small and boring.

We got home about 12:30 and Conchi came over and we went for cañas. We sat outside in the sun! It was great, the only thing was after a while, it was a little on the hot side! We were there for a while before the others showed up (Jesús, Arturo, Teodora, her mom and her boyfriend), so we sat for a while longer and chatted.

It’s a little after three o’clock now and I have a few hours of relaxation to enjoy before mass at 6:30. The children’s mass last week was ok, but I think I prefer to go when 50 little children aren’t shouting my name! I’m not sure what’s on the agenda for tonight. We talked about doing something at cañas, but as of right now, nothing’s definite.

Xoxo,

Court

It’s sunny and 65 degrees today—or at least it was; probably not so much now that the sun is going down. I just shut my window a few minutes ago and it’s still really nice out there!

I feel like today has been a productive day! I went to Carmen’s a little after 10:30 and we had our chat and espressos! We talked more about politics. She told me all about Franco and how not everyone hated him (as I had believed). I guess that’s the fault of American textbooks, because I’ve always read that he was this horrible person whom oppressed the Spanish people for some forty years and was terribly disliked. Granted many people despised him, on the other hand, many liked him because he truly took care of his people (as long as you were on his side, that is) and he didn’t put up with ANY crime. I love our chats…they’re super interesting and I learn lots, too!

I left Carmen’s about 12:45 and went to the market to look for some white leggings and a sweater to wear with my carnaval costume. The dress itself it rather see-through and I want to have a sweater in case it’s chilly. Unfortunately, I didn’t really find anything.

I went to the store after I left the market and when I got home Jesús, Gunita and I went to lunch at Stone (Will didn’t want to go). Whilst eating lunch, Jesús mentioned that (and I had forgotten that Emi did too yesterday) there’s this thing called FeriaStock this weekend. Basically it’s like this ginormous sale of regularly expensive items and apparently, they sell everything, so I can look for legging and a sweater there!

When we got back from lunch I cleaned the bathroom (hence the productive part of my day!). I mean I like really cleaned it…I scrubbed the sink, the walls, the toilet, swept and mopped too! I also swept and mopped the hallway, living room and kitchen. There’s something about having a clean house that just makes you feel better, you know?

Now I’m just kind of hanging out. I’m tired, but it’s too late to take a nap, otherwise I won’t sleep tonight. I’ll just go to bed early! Jesús is coming over at 11 tomorrow morning to go to FeriaStock, so I’ll have to get up and get myself into gear fairly early for a Saturday!

Xoxo,

Court

Another beautiful day! It’s about 60, but it feels so much warmer than that! I totally got hot walking home—and if you know me at all, that says A LOT! I shared the fudge during recreo today and everyone who tried it said it was really good! One of the teachers was like “Are you trying to make us gain weight?” Haha…maybe I am! I’m glad they liked it!

In 2A I made a list of animals and characteristics, just like I did for 2B on Monday. The sixth animal was “sheep” and so I wrote the number “6” on the board and they were like “what’s that?” Apparently my sixes aren’t Spanishy enough!

Second hour was 6B and we corrected homework for much of the time. With the last about ten-ish minutes, we did another dictation. We didn’t have a whole a lot of time, so I only said two sentences…but they seemed to get it better than 6A on Tuesday. Thank goodness!

Then came five-years B. I read them a story about a clown and then they did a worksheet, in which they had to match the word (policeman or doctor) to the picture.

The last two hours I was with the four-year-olds. With “B” we did the same thing we did with “A” last week—read the story about the bee and then did the worksheet where they had to color the bee and draw in a flower. In A, we tried to do this cut-out, like, craft activity, but it had a flaw. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize it until the kids had already started working, so it was kind of a flop! Oh well…you never know unless you try and they didn’t seem to mind!

I have my lesson with Carlos at four (in about 45 minutes!). I’m going to bring them some fudge! 1.) Because Emi is always making things for me and I thought I’d repay the favor for once and 2.) That way, I won’t eat it all myself!

Also, I’m meeting some of the teachers from school at for a café at the bar, Abadía, at six. I’m sure Emi will stuff me full of her sinfully delicious pastries beforehand, so I’m not sure if I’ll actually have anything—I’m gonna guess no though…I usually eat very little after my lessons on Mondays and Thursdays. But, I’ll be able to chat with them, so that will be nice!

Xoxo,

Court

What at gorgeous day! The sun is shining, the wind is only slightly blowing and there are very few clouds in the sky! I’d say it has to be at least 60 or 65 degrees! I think it’s supposed to hit like 70 on Friday or Saturday! It was so nice to walk to school this morning and not be freezing!

I made the fudge yesterday and it was a success! Or at least the flavor was…the consistency is a little off—it’s rather soft, not hard like it should be. It made two pans and I took one pan to school. I should have just left it in the pan, but I decided I was going to take it out and wrap it up in some foil, in an attempt to make it easier to transport. I cut it up in the pan and then dished it onto the foil—which probably was mistake number 1. By the time I got it all onto the foil, it had lost most of its shape and was kind of just like this big blob. I was going to put it out for everyone to try at school, but it was WAY too soft! So, I put it in the fridge and I’ll put it out tomorrow!

First hour I had 5B. I went over the same vocab with them that I went over with 5A yesterday. Then María José checked some homework with them.

Third hour I was with 1A. They had a little quiz of sorts, in which they had to color their vocab words the appropriate colors, then trace the words on the bottom of their sheet. It took the entire time! Some students got it done super quick and didn’t have problems, and other students just did not grasp the concept. Espe and I went around the class to make sure everyone was doing alright and there were several students whom I had to stop with and be like “Which is the color orange/green/blue? Which is the bike/swing…?” Later, with one outrageously hyperactive student, I had to sit right next to him in order to get him to work.

Second, fourth and fifth hours I was with fourth level. Rocío had printed off a coloring sheet of the US flag and so they colored that first. She then put up a US map and we talked about a few selected states, just about their location and capitals: North Dakota, Virginia, Texas, Oregon and (of course!) Nebraska. She wants to focus one state each week and talk about it. Later we looked at the seal of the United States/the President’s seal and talked about that. I always learn so much in her classes! For example, I knew nothing about the seal before today and now I know, like, everything about it and I also thought the capital of Oregon was Portland and totally told second hour wrong. Later I looked and saw that it’s actually Salem—oops! My bad…

Right now I have my window open (because it’s SO nice!) and I’m listening to the happenings going on outside in the street below. It’s really relaxing! It maybe naptime soon, if I get too much more relaxed…but I’m totally down with that!

Xoxo,

Court

Happy 279^th Birthday, Mr. Washington!

The nice weather has returned! I’m not sure exactly what the temperature is, but it’s sunny and decent. It’s a little windy, but it’s not a cold wind, so that makes all the difference!

Today seemed to go pretty quickly. My celebrity status continued, with several more students coming up to me and being like “Te vi, te vi en la misa!” And María José was like “So I heard you went to mass on Sunday!” Ahh, stardom!

I had the three-year-olds first hour. I went to Julia’s first and we started out with the “Buenos Días” song (which I am learning!) and then the maquinista of the day, Patricia, called roll in English—“Is _______ here?” “Here.” That was followed by the counting of the students at school and home sick. I then talked a little about the characters from Sponge Bob, because we talked a bit about them last week. They LOVE Sponge Bob! I wasn’t able to get a picture to show them this week, so that’s my homework for next week!

I was only in Ángela’s class for about 20 minutes because we ran over in Julia’s (it’s so hard for me to split the hour between the two!). When I got there, they were reviewing places/things around the city—fruit store, bread store, traffic light, sidewalk, street lamp, etc. That was all they really did whilst I was there, because they reviewed the places several times.

When I got to 5A, María José was reviewing their homework with them. That took a while and when she was finished, I talked with them about some leisure activities from their books—reading, rollerblading, watching TV, listening to music…I then asked them questions about the activities to check for comprehension and I totally called on the kids who weren’t paying attention or who didn’t have their hands raised! I guess that’s the teacher in me, haha!

Third hour was 1B and we played a “game” called STOP! in which I said a vocab word and then went through all their flashcards, and when I came upon that word, they had to yell STOP! It was kinda cute because each card it wasn’t, they were like “NOOOO!”. They then did a workbook page where they had to draw the next shape in the series. The concept seems pretty simple, but some of them had trouble with it.

Today was bocadillo (sandwich) Tuesday. Emi told me yesterday, when I was at my lesson with Juan An, that was her group’s turn to do it, so when she dropped me off yesterday, I was like “OK, see you tomorrow!” I bought a small bocadillo just like I always do and I saw her when recreo was over and she was like “Corni, venga! I was like “See you later!” and another one of the moms was like “Wait!” And then Emi came and gave me another sandwich, bless her heart! I think she thinks I don’t get enough to eat or something…either that, or she felt bad for “only” serving me store-bought pastries yesterday because she didn’t have time to make anything! She was like “Don’t worry though, because on Thursday I’m going to make blahblahblah type of cake.” No doubt it’ll be delectable and she’ll sent half of it home with me…Yeah, hard life, tutoring, I know!

Five years A was after break and I reviewed carnival things with them and also read them the story again (apparently when I read it before several students were sick. They then did a simple worksheet about series as well, in which they had to draw the next character. It was like “teacher, ghost, pirate, teacher, _______, pirate. They were so lost; they had no idea what to do, do I ended up giving several of them the answers…my bad!

Last hour was 6B. While I usually enjoy that class, today, they just annoyed me. I did a dictation with them (like I did with 6C yesterday) and they didn’t get it at all. No matter how many times I repeated the sentences—literally ten times for some—they were still like “WHAT??” And then they would talk because they didn’t understand it and so the ones who actually did understand it couldn’t hear. I mean, 6C had a little trouble with it, but not nearly the trouble that this class had. I even said “If you guys’ll just be quiet and listen, it’s not that hard!” I just had an “off” day with them, I think.

I think I’m going to try to make some fudge this afternoon…since I have marshmallow crème now! Thanks Mom and Dad! We’ll see how that works out. I hope it turns out well and tastes like it should, because that sounds so yummy right now!

Xoxo,

Court