Quick Update

So far this week has been one of those weeks, you know the kind where you never know what day it is and can't remember what your to-do list composed of....one of those weeks. Somehow I made it through. I even had all my classes prepped, but some of the professors forgot to mention that Tuesday was field trip day, and Thursday was Drug Free Assembly day....so half my classes were cancelled. Something I found out after arriving to the classrooms, void of students. Must have missed the notice.
Wednesday was a general strike in Spain, as well as other European countries, formulated by the European syndicates. Ideally everything was closed for the day as a form of protest against the direction the governments are heading. There were groups picketing through the streets to assure that no business was open, upon finding one open on the day of strike, they stood outside and chanted extra loud to make sure it closed. In theory this is how the strike worked. In reality it went more like this: lots of businesses were closed, in the morning. Those that were brave enough to open in the morning kept the black-out blinds 3/4 closed and when they heard the picketers coming, they lowered the blinds the rest of the way until the picketers passed. I watched from my window as the people enjoying their morning cup of coffee in the cafe across from me were locked inside the cafe to avoid having to deal with the chanting. However someone inside wanted to leave. They had to open the blinds over the door. The man squatted to duck out, and the chanters hung out for awhile and posted signs on the blinds saying the cafe was closed for strike. Then they left. Then the blinds went back up. Fail? The protests were peaceful, though mildly obnoxious, in Spain. Portugal was not as lucky. Lisbon experienced violent protests, though the people there are at a different level of desperate than those in Spain. The Spanish picketers were just loud. And after the siesta, everything opened back up in Santiago. This is a video of the picketers on my street, you can see the man leave the cafe. And then they all stayed for a long time. The chant is in Gallego, estamos en folga, hai que pechar, we're on strike, close up.

Folga xeral in front of my apartment

On a lighter note, Toxo is just as cute as ever. And is struggling to understand the washing machine. Poor fella, it's not going well for him. But my goodness is it cute.

 

Toxo

I don't have any big plans for my weekend as of yet, but I have planned a trip finally. It's not until the end of next month, but it'll be worth the wait. After Kim leaves, I am going to Turkey. I bought my ticket today and am now working on a plan for my time there, December 28-January 6. It should be phenomenal. 

Paychecks=Freedom, so does Obama.

I am now two months into my stay in Spain (the amount that remain is up in the air) and I am finally starting to get the ball rolling on life. *a word of caution, the Spanish rub off on you quickly and it's hard to shake the laid back attitude* It helped that I was finally paid by the program, and now I can start to plan trips, a feat that is easier said than done. I am also thrilled to be planning to be a tour guide for Kim in just over a month. Kim, one of my best friends (the first friend I made in Star), is coming to spend Christmas with me, and I get to show her Galicia. The pressure's on, and I'm counting the days until I get to see her again!
This week I had my first negative experience in the classroom, and I had to lay down the law. I am used to the students not being as well behaved as the students in the USA, but on Thursday they pushed it too far. In the seventh grade class I was with half the students, reviewing for an exam, something they desperately needed to do. There are four students that just do not care to learn English, and that in no way bothers me; however the incessant need to talk and throw things and not sit in their chairs did bother me. I calmly explained to them that I understand English is not everyone's favorite, but that regardless there was still going to be a test and if they wanted to pass it was in their best interest to pay attention. This worked for about two minutes, then they started again. For the first time I lectured in Spanish, explaining (in the most professional way possible) that I don't really give a crap if they ignore me, as long as do it quietly and while sitting in their own chairs, está entendido, chicos? They were so taken aback by that they actually shut up, win. But then when two students, who really do try to learn, but struggle immensely with the subject, made a mistake, the whole class laughed at them and called them stupid. Cue lecture number two, a little louder than lecture number one and much more harsh. In Spanish (because I wanted nothing lost in translation) I snapped that I, being the best at speaking English in the whole school, am the only one with the right to laugh at mistakes. If I am not laughing, you should not be either. I do not want to hear you call another peer stupid, apologize and let's continue. The four troublemakers lost the right to be with me and instead have to stay in the main class doing grammar exercises that they hate until they learn to be nice. I knew it was only a matter of time for something like to happen, and it would have been much easier to handle if I was the actual teacher, but I am just the assistant and so I have to follow the rules of the teachers (but I am lucky enough that they support me in whatever decision I make in regards to discipline).
I have also received many congratulations from the Spanish this week on the re-election of President Obama, something I receive with great pride. Good work America. I also started private lessons with two more families. On Monday I went to Ana's house and spoke with two of her children for an hour. They are absolutely adorable, and her daughter told me she has always wanted to try peanut butter, because it's in all the movies. This week we will be making PBJs. Friday I began with the neighbor's of Roi and Iria (my normal Friday classes), the family has two little boys, five and seven (Anton and Roi), and they were so excited to play. Anton was very confused as to why I was speaking English, and Roi was embarrassed that he forgot so much English this summer (adorable). I had so much fun with them!
Last night I got to Skype with my daddy and Tonka and Zar. My three favorite men. From 5000 miles away the dogs listened to my commands (my dad, not so much).

It does not get much cuter than this.

Today the sun came out for a few hours and Angel and I took advantage of it and went for a walk. The old town is so charming, the stereotypical European town with cobblestone streets and stone buildings. And after a rain shower it is nothing short of charming.

 

Casco viejo 

No cars on these streets

Praza da Inmaculado

 

 Praza da Inmaculado

 

 Rainbow (if you look closely)

 

 

Too Many Topics for a Cohesive Title

This week has flown by, once again. I was slammed the first few days of the week with work, prepping the presentations for Halloween and planning lessons for school as well as the private lessons. This week I am supposed to begin with Ana's kids, Ana is the teacher who drives me to school in the mornings, and I am setting up a time with another family for the following week. I am really excited to have the opportunity to give more private lessons, and it is really convenient for now because my program has yet to pay me. Urgency is a word that does not seem to exist the Spanish language. But I do just fine with my weekly lessons, my salary is for traveling.

Monday Isabel took me to the top of the "mountain" to see Santiago from above, and the view was breathtaking. The road up was a death trap, a common design in this region I am finding, but with my fingers tightly crossed we made it to the top without incident. The trip was unplanned so I was armed only with my iPhone to take pictures of the whole city, but we were there at sunset and the clouds were like nothing I've seen before. Sadly these photos do them no justice.

 Amazing.

 Mountain trees aka wannabe-pines-but-in-the-wrong-climate

The students were all s antsy this week because it was a three day school week, Wednesday was Halloween/Samhain and Thursday was All Saints Day, then Friday was a school holiday. I gave presentations on Halloween and How to Carve a Pumpkin, we watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and read Halloween stories. The students were so into learning about Halloween in the USA and loved seeing the costumes and the Haunted Maze/World/Houses that we have in Idaho (though after I explained the chainsaw men and traps they seemed less keen on going). I had a 'moment', for lack of a better way to explain it, with the fifth grade class on Tuesday while reading the Halloween story. It was a story about a kid that goes to his grandmother's house alone, where all the servants are typical Halloween monsters. The story was full of difficult vocabulary and hard to follow for their level, but there were parts that repeated, and they repeated with me (including the actions and silly voices I made for these parts). I was so proud of them. All of the students are learning so much, I am always impressed by the students. To celebrate Samhain, the holiday from which Halloween originated, the students decorate pumpkins, and bring them to school, these are my favorite ones.

 Native American, in Spain. 

 Skater by a student in fifth grade (though I have my assumptions that there was a touch of parental supervision...)

And the winner is...this fridge. The cutest pumpkin I've ever seen

Wednesday night we had a small party for Halloween and went out. It was really fun to celebrate Halloween in Spain because costumes are not seen as an excuse to slut up, but rather an excuse to go all out and be as realistic an interpretation of your character as possible. Just like kids in the USA. Andrea did our make-up and we had homemade goodies to much on while we waited until an ungodly hour to leave the flat.

Zombie Angel, with a paper mache wound on his neck

Not sure what I was, but it was a costume that rolled over to the next day, when I woke up looking like a hungover prostitute. It was a massive amount of eyeliner that refused to come off in the many attempts before bed, and held strong for the next couple of days at that matter..

Happy Halloween!

Thursday and Friday were lazy days where I fought an annoying cold that came back in full force, bringing headaches as reinforcements. Then there was today, one of those "the-grass-is-probably-maybe-greener-on-the-other-side-of-the-globe" days. Then I found out Toxo had fleas and I realized that the grass is definitely greener on the other side of the globe. Andrea and I combed, bathed and collared the little fella. Then we fumigated the flat. My inner hippie didn't even fight it, fleas or carcinogenic chemicals, we all know which of these is the worse of two evils. I emptied that spray can.

Flea free and oh so very happy

Following the motherly advice given to me by the world's number one mom, I went for a walk to shake my stinky attitude this afternoon. Shockingly enough, my mom was right and the walk did me wonders. ;) Fall is in full swing here and the Parque de la Alameda is absolutely gorgeous. 

 Spoiler alert, there are a lot of trees in this park

 The branches blow my mind, someday I'll find out what kind of trees these are (I'm sure I could ask anyone in the park since the Spanish are all somehow experts in flora)

 Notice the mix of tress in this photo, there oaks, pines, palms and so many other species of trees here

 Rosalia Castro, a poet native to Santiago de Compostela

 The funky branches, again

 So many colors, how is this not everyone's favorite season?

 More colors

One final photo

We shall see what this next week holds in store for me, I hope it full of paychecks but free of fleas and sneezes. Love.