Birds Flying High // You Know How I Feel

Good tidings I bring!

Sierra shot from school

I tend to love February: everyone is back and recovered from break, schedules are more concrete, everything seems to have its rhythm.  I even love Valentine’s Day.  Though that’s mainly because it’s the day before my birthday and so it makes chocolate and candy super cheap just in time to celebrate.   Unfortunately it’s still as chilly as ever. On the bright side, the snow capped Sierras are stunning even though they engulf the city in its icy embrace.  

So far this February has also been fabulous.

January I started my second job teaching in Chauchina on Tuesdays and Thursday after I’m done in Santa Fe. And now I feel more in control. They are exhausting days, but I usually can’t help but smile by the end of it.  Plus with all this extra teaching experience, I’m discovering that I don’t actually want to teach English. It’s perfect for right now, polishing skills, and enabling me to see Spain….but it doesn’t seem to be what I’m looking for long-term. Or at least Spain isn’t. Realizing that is half the battle, but it’s frustrating to keep running into walls. 23 is young (I repeat every morning). I have time to find that thing that clicks, but having a blindfold certainly impedes the process. 

Can't wait to meet my niece Sofie when I go back

That being said, I’ve started the job search in the States. Went through the first couple stages of interviews for one company, but didn’t make the cut in the end.  I’ve got my eye on something in DC, but I have to wait until I’m closer to coming home to pursue it. Not having ambitions really puts a damper on finding direction. My ultimate goal is really to just be a cog. I’m not an entrepreneur. I don’t have big exciting ideas. I just want to find my niche and then do it well and consistently. I want to build relationships and invest in community. My passions can pretty much transplant anywhere.  Anyways my future is perched in the air. I’ll let you know when something tips. 

February has been more tranquil than the previous months. I haven’t travelled anywhere since Christmas. But the plane tickets I recently bought more than make up for my sedentary life.  During Semana Santa, I’M GOING TO EYGPT! For those of you who don’t know and may think I’m crazy for traversing a country so riddled with political unrest, several  (seven in fact) of my friends are interning in Cairo. They assure me their experience is not the type that would make headlines.  So off I go! I’m so pumped to see them. Two of them were previous housemates, and the others I’ve known all throughout college.  Anyways my indulgent birthday present took a chunk out of the bank account so it looks like I’ll be kicking around Granada for the next month too.

Surprised

As for my actual birthday, it was very chill. I picked up a paycheck and got Thai (Spain styled) for lunch with a co-worker. Then I spent the rest of the day shopping. Later that night when I was snuggled up with a book Daniela, Caro, and Noemi surprised me with an almond encrusted, raspberry filled cake. D to the E to the li-ih-ih-ihhhhCIOUS. After the sugarbomb I  showed them the wonderful cards my parents sent me. Starting from the end of January to the day of my parents, but specifically my mom, sent me 23 birthday cards, one for every birthday. She wrote anecdotes from the years and sent old family photos along. Then on my birthday my dad sent me a card specifically from him and that was pretty special too. I loved it. Getting mail is exciting in and of itself, but getting mail when you’re abroad is 10x better.  So by the time Feb 15^th rolled around I felt like I had been celebrating for two weeks.  

Groom and Bride

Birthday celebrations were eclipsed though because the next day was Angel and Gisella’s wedding!! Ain't no wedding like a Spanish wedding ‘cuz Spanish weddings don’t stop. But srsly.  I got there early to help decorate a bit about 5pm (the wedding started close to 6 pm) and I came home around 3 am.  What? The ceremony was Spanish but not Catholic.  Outside underneath a canopy, there were no bridesmaids or best men. Friends and family all crowded around to see the bride come up the patio.  The ring bearer came up after the bride and groom sat in chairs in front of the pastor.  After they signed and said “yo quiero” they immediately greeted practically every single guest with besitos. Then, and only then, were they whisked away while we enjoyed a cocktail hour, two, or three. After the ceremony time just flew out the window. I do think the dinner course started somewhere around 9pm. Before midnight the groom made a speech (no toasts here) and around 1am or 2am we played some games.  I think it didn’t end too much later after we shuffled out saying our goodbyes to the bride and groom. 

Caro about to get me back from all those "missed" punches

The only plans I have for the rest of February is to read read read!! I did a throwback and read the Uglies series (2005) by Scott Westerfeld, not amazing but still fun. I always love a good Dystopian. Now on the slot I have Game of Thrones, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Hopefully I can knock out at least two of those in the  next week. I'm trying to make up for my lack of reading in January.

2013 continues to keep my spirits high.With work and Raíces getting into full swing I have to force myself to be on top of things if I don't want to get too overwhelmed. My raging procrastination skills keep nipping at my heels. But I'd much rather be running around like chicken with its head cut off than a frog not noticing its in a boiling pot. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Santa Fe

My School

Monday was my first day at my school, I.E.S Jimenez de Quesada. Much to my surprise I love my 1° ESO B (1st year bilingual) class. They are 12-13 year olds and they basically don’t know anything. It’s slightly adorable, but also hard because I never know if they are quiet because they are being respectful or because they don’t understand. There are about 30 of them, and I see them for English language class, Geography in English, and Science in English.  

Some of them have told me I’m a great teacher. Hah. That might be a culture difference or just a stress difference. The teachers here are thinly stretched; less resources, more students, more hours. However some teachers aren’t the best at making sure their directions are understood. Or they automatically assume a student is being rebellious and disrespectful when they are just confused. I’m still not sure how I feel about ring around some teachers give students when they make mistakes. 

Example: a girl was late to class after the door was closed. The teacher didn’t hear her knock before she came in and stopped the class to address her. He asked her if she knocked thought obviously he didn’t think so. A girl by the door came to her defense, but because he didn’t hear it she had to go back outside. She knocked and came in, but she didn’t wait for an answer. So she had to go back out and knock and say “May I come in?” wait for an answer and then come in.  All of this was also in English, and she was obviously having a hard time understanding and just wanted to go to her seat. 

Sympathy or not, I feel like the whole thing was disruptive and not the most beneficial to class. When there are that many students, I’m more inclined to let little things slide. But I guess they need the discipline? Still he could have just said “please knock and wait before you come in;” aka directly instructing and slightly less humiliating.

A nice touch of green

In general I’ll be helping in those three subjects but with three different levels: 1° Eso B, 2° Eso B, and 3° Eso B.  Plus I’ll be doing the occasional rotation with a Bachillerato class and the Education modular (future kindergarten teachers). We don’t really have the Bachillerato in the US, but it’s a post-high school education and pre-university track. The students are 16-17 years old, maybe 18 years old.

 I visited one with only eight students and it was like pulling teeth. I’m actually not sure what the point of the class was since we did Q&A for a bit. But it also could be that the teacher seems to be all about breaking down the walls of the “box,” or if not getting outside it, at least sitting on top of it. Supposedly one of these days the class will take me to get piononos, a sweet sponge cake emblematic of the town. She also asked them to write a couple sentences about the history of Santa Fe, and told them they could make it up if they wanted.  Their questions, though recalcitrant, were on the more imaginative side. One girl asked me how I felt about unicorns and a guy asked me if I received my letter to Hogwarts (he’s a Gryffindor).They get points for originality even if they stared at their papers to avoid eye contact. 

So far I’ve caught the 7:45am bus to Santa Fe and get into town around 8:05. Other days I’ll come an hour later, or not until noon. That being said some days I may leave at 1pm others at 3pm (+ the commute home). My looser schedule is prompting me to learn how to walk slower and enjoy my surroundings. I take cues from the old Spanish men. Old Spanish men walk only slightly quicker than the old Spanish women who hobble in their heels hanging onto each other with the air of sharing secrets.  The men have their hands clasped behind their backs, heads tall and straight, with the occasional pipe cocked askew. I don’t sport the pipe, but I’m picking up the idea of walking and absorbing rather than walking and going. 

Plaza de Epaña Santa Fe style

Santa Fe is…symmetrical. Well not actually, but the streets, houses, movement and feel of this town is a bit more in order. The streets are clean(er); I still see the occasional dog droppings, unfortunately, squashed by a passerby.  I almost wish I lived here. Especially when I see my kids go home. They yell across the street, “Angela, Hi!! Bye!!” It makes me want to hang out, play futbol with them, and find out about their lives. But I feel the idyllic town life would wear off quick. I do hope though they’ll have some field trips or extracurricular stuff with which I can help. Reading materials aloud doesn’t give a lot of time to find out who these kids are.