I don’t know if anyone actually pays attention, but this is a special post. Why? Because it’s my 100^th since arriving in Spain!!! Some five months, 67 pages in Word and 49,251 words later!! That is quite a lot, indeed!

And not only is this my 100^th post, but it’s also the first day of March! Well, HELLO March (aka the month of birthdays!). The weather is much like yesterday’s—48, windy, on- and-off sun. It’s partly cloudy, but at least there’s blue sky (right now, at least!).

I started off the day with Julia’s three-year-olds. Yesterday, Aurora told me to send her an email with my SpongeBob pictures attached so she could print them out for that class. But, when I got to school, she was like “I couldn’t do it because I don’t have Word 2007 on my laptop at home”. So she had to do it there. The only problem with that is she’s a very popular person and it’s really hard to get anything done with her in a hurry because people are always coming and interrupting (kids and adults too, no less!). Personally, I think it’s rather rude—like if I’m talking to her or she’s helping me, I think they should wait their turn…I always do—if someone is there, I wait until I’m addressed.

Like today, she had pulled up the email to print and this mom came in and was like “I need this blah for my child’s carnaval costume”. I don’t know…maybe I was annoyed for no reason, but I was like “Really, you need it right this second when we’re not even dressing up until Friday and I’m sitting here already late for class?” It’s not the first time it’s happened…but I guess Aurora pretty much enables them too by tending to what they need at that very moment.

After a couple more interruptions, she printed off what I needed and I went to class…20 minutes late. We talked about all the characters in English and Spanish, where they live/work/how long the show’s been on for. I didn’t have time to go to Ángela’s class, so next week I’ll spend the entire hour with them.

Second was 5A. María José and Pilar (the actual 5A teacher) were working on some sort of written objectives or something like that and in the meantime, María José had them working on a few workbook pages. When they were done they had to go show Alberto, like right then, apparently, so I was to be left alone with them. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal because they’re a pretty good class, but WOW they were terrible! They kept talking and many of them weren’t working. I kept asking them to quiet but they ignored me and I said something in Spanish and this one kid laughed at me. I was mad—and when María José came back I told her so. As I was leaving, one of the really sweet girls tapped me on the shoulder and was like “here”. She had drawn a picture of me to try to make up for her classmates…it was cute!

1B was third hour and they were a lot better. We played this “game” where Esperanza handed out all the flashcards and the students had to hold up their flashcard when I called their word. Later we started a new unit about the zoo, which includes animals like lion, penguin, snake, elephant, fish and dolphin. We then went around the room and each one said what their favorite animal was—penguin was by far the winner, like three times over!

After recreo came five years A and we also started a new unit—about clothes…pants (or rather trousers, that is), shirt, coat, hat…They were pretty rambunctious and talkative too, so we didn’t get too far in this class either.

Last hour was 6A and they had to finish a writing portion of an exam, so there wasn’t really time for anything else. I went around and helped students here and there, but other than that, I didn’t do a whole a lot.

I’m glad I don’t have a lesson today, because I don’t feel really well right now. My throat doesn’t hurt exactly, well, kind of, but not terribly, but like my swallows are really heavy (if that makes any sense…like I’m aware of every time I swallow) and I have a head, neck and back ache. Yeah…I don’t know what it is about Spain, but in the five months I’ve been here, I think I’ve felt, like, not good more times than in the past five years. It seems like every few weeks there’s something “off” inside me…

For the 100^th time…

Xoxo,

Court