So my dad has made a polite request to hear about the school I'm teaching at... crazy I know, cause its not like the reason I'm actually here. Crazy parents and their delusions. (I came for the beach.... and the Spanish men.... and the crazy cheap wine). But I will humor him and share some information about my place of employment here. Well techincally my place of education because they give you a student visa for this program and call it a stipend, not a salary. Oh bureaucracy, working hard to hardly work... making me proud.
Ok so I should start by telling you about Catalan. Everyone here speaks it, and honestly, its a messed up language. It kinda sounds like people speaking Spanish in a French accent and cutting off all their words half way through and choking on them alittle. Also it kinda sounds like an old Russian lady had some influence on the pronuciation of all k's in the language. So anyways, crazy langauge thats only spoken in northern Spain on here in the Baleric Islands. So anyways, everyone speaks Catalan. The teachers all babble on in it in the teachers lounge and I just sit there with my finger up my nose being like.... um, hola? The kids have Catalan classes on top of Spanish and English classes... plus there are a ton of kids at my school that are immigrants from eastern Europe so they are like on their 4th or 5th language by the time they get to English. I'm impressed that they can fit it all in there but I feel like unless you plan on living here, which many are gone after a few months, much less years, so Catalan kinda seems like a waste of brain space for these kids.
So where were we, oh school. Ok so these kids are loud. Like set a kid's hair on fire and after giving them four pixie sticks loud. And its totally normal!!!!!! OMG I have never been so annoyed by a classroom of kids.... chatting on in like 4 different languages... its like a mini model UN where the main concern in Hannah Montana. Holy Moley Bagoli..... So yeah, one of the first days one of the teachers acutally told the kids they have to talk quieter cause the new American teacher isnt use to kids talking so loud. I laughed at first and then after a few days was like, heck, remind them again... my ears are bleeding. So I've lead about 5 classes so far and each time I have had to spend half the time telling them to be quiet. Oh, and the teachers here are always yelling to get them to be quiet and they tell them to callate.... aka shut up. I was like, hey you cannot say that!!!!! Well a teacher first asked me how to say callate in English and I was like... well you should say be quiet.... but thats not what you are saying. She gave me a weird look like whats wrong with callate. So so far Ive had to play the bad guy and literally walk up to kids and say, YOU NEED TO STOP TALKING OR YOU WILL HAVE TO LEAVE. And they are like all ok sure... and then 2 minutes later, they are talking again.
Good news though is that hugs and physical contact is super normal. Its not like in the USA where we give a firm handshake on special occasions. Here kids give you kisses on the cheek and run to hug you. They are so loving even when I just played the bad guy for an hour. I was suprised that after one of my first classes were I had to come down hard I had a hug line before I left and it was completely legit. I love the hugs cause it reminds me that I'm being the bad guy now so later teaching is easier and we can have fun. The teachers here can't believe that you can't kiss or even really hug in the US. They gave me this look like I was a Barbarian... and I shrugged like, hey.... see the leg hair, maybe I am.
Also I'm teaching half English classes and half art classes. So from what I remember as a kid art class was intense. I had a whole art teacher that just taught that. Here they are like, yeah I think we are going to, like, color a picture, or something for an hour for art class.... what do you think? And I'm like, omg, there is so much to teach! The color wheel, analogous colors and complementary colors and the use of hard and soft lines and different mediums. Perhaps its the art geek in my but I am ready to rock these kids worlds art wise!!!!! Ive done 2 projects so far and the teachers are like, wow this is great, and I was like, dude we did this at home when I was little.... YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!!!!
So yeah, thats my school. Loud, loving, and lacking some art. Its intense but I love it so far. I have some good stories about the teachers and their affinity for asking me if Ive starting drinking already and if I went out the night before. Also a teacher announced very loudly one day during break that she was up since 4:30 am cause her husband was sick.... with diarrhea..... Yeah, she like yelled it across the room.... I died laughing..... Oh those Spaniards are some loud people!!!!!! Anyways... yeah, more to come..... Today was national "I'm proud to be Spanish Day" where everyone takes the day off and sit at the beach. I participated and felt throughly Spanish. I could get use to it here!!!!!
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