El fin de curso

Well, let's be honest, this post is very long overdue. I would like to state some wicked important excuse as the reason but in reality: I got busy. Now, I'm going to attempt to finish up the school year giving you just as much gory detail that you have come to expect and love.
As the school year winds down everyone starts running around like chicken with their heads cut off. The 2nd grade teachers are all too consumed by the Trinity exam, Infantil teachers are putting together graduation events for the 5 year olds, and everyone else seems to be months behind on regular coursework. While I am deeply concerned for their well-being, none of this really plays into my schedule and I continue to read the paper every morning and finish my Sudoku all before lunch.
The Trinity exam took place over two days and was awful. The children have to sit in a room with a creepy British man and speak in English about anything we covered in the course of the year. Obviously I'm biased, but the man was terrible and I'm proud of the kids for their effort.In mid-May there is the festival of San Isidro...the Patron Saint of Madrid. For this event the kids (and teachers) dress in traditional Madrileno attire. They open the blacktop to music, food, and games; Everyone celebrates, dances around, and has a good time.
Ridiculousness:
At lunch one day while all kids were on the patio and the teachers were eating the loudspeaker came on playing the Barcelona Futbol Club's chant/song. It was after a pretty important game, one in which had very few Barcelona supporters and more Madrid supporters at my school, and the school went nuts. The kids started banging on the windows and the teachers stood up in outcry. Only in Spain.
Swine flu has hit Spain like a ton of bricks. Its all over the newspapers and there are signs up everywhere teaching people how to be germaphobic. However, since the Spanish eat a lot of pig products, and by that I mean ham, the official name has been changed from "Gripe Porcina" (Swine flu) to "Gripe A". I'm pretty sure they did this so people wouldn't get scared.
A certain teacher that I work with (unless I can avoid it) managed to substitue my everyday class with me. After hearing specific instructions to let me run class seeing as it is my class, we were learning about the environment, and I FREAKING SPEAK ENGLISH!!, this teacher took it upon herself to disrupt my class. She got it to the point that not only were the students not listening to her, but they weren't listening to me either. I walked out. (ok, that sounds more hardcore then it was...really I just waited till it was time to go to recess and I split. But the intent was there!)
I, Melanie D. Lawton, taught Math class, and I rocked it! (Granted it was a second grade level, but still...) One of the substitutes didn't show and I was free so they asked me to just sit in while the class did homework. One kid started crying because he didn't get it and I went over to help. After that all the kids wanted my help so I just stood in the front of the class speaking Spanish about Math problems.
Finally, the heat. Enough said.

School's End:
As for the official end of school it was pretty anti-climactic. Worked on a mural for the sixth graders' play, went to a few parties in classrooms, and played basketball on the blacktop with the students. The kids were so dramatic as if they were never going to see each other again. Uhhhh...you live in Rivas, what else are you going to do?
Saying bye to the teachers for the summer was an event. It was Lisa's last year at the school and she was an emotional wreck (and I'm being nice). All the teachers looked at me and said this is how I'll be next year...clearly they haven't figured me out yet.

But for now I say goodbye to the desert that is Rivas and to the craziness that is Hans Christian Andersen. See ya in October!

Negative: Neighbors who have alarm clocks that don't shut off for hours.

Positive: Mystery Theatre at lunch break.

Yuste...Y usted?

What is the normal amount of cheese one can consume in a day? On the first of the month that is what I set out to discover with some friends. We had heard about this Feria Nacional del Queso (Cheese Festival) in Extramadura and it peaked some interest. I must first state that I like cheese, but can think of other things I'd rather eat all day, like ice cream and pea soup but not together. After mentioning to one of my adult students, who is from that area, that I had some interest, she proceeded to spend 15 minutes convincing me that my life wasn't complete without going, sold!

So on May 1st, which happened to also be the start of a puente weekend, a group of us took off on this adventure. Steve, Lisa, her sister Renee, and I crammed into Juanma's car, Mary went with Raul and his girlfriend, and Ainhoa and Arancha brought the churros. We met up in a small pueblo called Oropesa to get coffee and look at the castle. [Side note: Seriously, how cool is it that I can just stop in to see a castle???] We took some pictures and we on our way probaly 2 hours behind schedule.

We arrived in Trujillo after twelve and joined the hundreds of people already in line to get tickets. We pooled money and got 24 cheese and 12 drink tickets. The trick is to not eat the bread, if you eat the bread you fill up and have no room for the cheese. I tried all types of cheese from mostly Spain and Portugal. Some were great, others horrific. There were ones that were so hard in texture while one in particular that was almost like whipped cream. My favorite wasn't the best tasting one, but the one with the strangest side affects. One piece of cheese when initially eaten tasted like a blue cheese spread, however that was only the first minute. Like clockwork, when an exact minute was up my cheeks caved in and I lost all saliva in my mouth, gross I know but accurate. The cheese literally took over your mouth. Steve, Juanma and I spent the next 10 minutes of our lives making weird faces and trying to get rehydrated...ridiculous.

The festival itself was a great sight, there were so many different types of people. It was a great sunny day and the environment was peaceful. They had a section roped off that included what must have been over 400 types of cheeses. There was a fountain in the middle that was a great place to rest and people watch. A region nearby was known for its beer because it was made by monks, or some jazz like that. It's called Yuste and f course it was the most expensive but totally worth it. Three of those apiece and the group of us got real funny.

After a few hours in the center we decided to head off in search of some coffee. Unsuccessful at the that, but successful in exploring the town itself and finding the CASTLE! We walked the long, winding, narrow streets to the top and then climbed the castle. The view from the top was breathtaking. In some of the pictures you would never even know that we were in the 21st century. We spent another hour or so wandering, before returning to the festival so the boys could buy cheese. That turned out to be the worst thing that could have ever happened to us since the cheese they bought smelled like death. I know I can exaggerate but the smell that this one cheese in particular gave off was enough to make you sick. And what is worse is that later on the way home, after much convincing to put it in the trunk, the cheese rolled around during ever turn and wafted back into the front. Horrible.

Finally, we found this roof top terrace in the sunshine to rest before the drive home. The perfect end to a great day. They had a dj, a dance floor, and wicker chairs on the grass...what more could you need?I love my life!

Negative: No more Newcastle at Bo'finns!

Positive: Sushi dates.

Call on meee, Call on meeeeeeeee

What did I do today? I sat inside a blowup globe and learned about the water cycle in Spanish. My school has started this movement towards educating the kids on water and for the six year olds this was their experience. I crawled into this globe with 25 six year olds and watched as a little drop of water named Ana told us about her life. Good to know that my Spanish is at least at a 1st grade comprehension level.

School has been pretty normal for the third trimester. I'm sure if we had rafters at school the kids would be hanging from them. I did have a little issue with one of my favorites in the third grade writing a pretty graphic note for his age. I promise you I did not know the words nor expressions that he used when I was eight. Kids these days...

Steve brought his wife Susannah to school on Wednesday to everyone's delight. She had been asking to see the school before she left for the States so this was the perfect opportunity, and we hoped it would squash the Melanie and Steve rumors from the kids. The little girl who has been on our case from the beginning apparently just put her head down in defeat when she met Susannah, something I eagerly would have paid money to see. I thought this would be the end of it but as always I was mistaken. I passed these kids in the hall and heard ¨Has visto Susannaaaaaaahhh?!?¨ (Have you seen Susannah?!?). These kids were trying to taunt me as if I didn't already know he was married. I would tell them to get lives but they are only six and that would be mean.

One of our teachers has been sick for over a week now and her students haven´t had English in that amount of time so I needed to cover the 6th grade. We only have two classes of 6th but since they didn't start in the bilingual program I don´t have any interaction with them. When I walked in they were a little nervous because they had only seen me pass in the hall. I'm not sure why they were nervous because when they all stood up they towered over me. (Great feat its not but impressive nonetheless). We did some work from their books and played a few games to get them comfortable. At the end they interviewed me and it was hysterical. My favorite was telling them I didn't eat meat because as I've said before its not a concept they grasp. By the end of class they were feeling more sure of themselves, I was definitely impressed by their persistence.
As for the weekend there was a going away/birthday party for Susannah. Eclectic group of people that got together for some drinks and tapas. I finally got to see Steve´s place and the area that he raves about so much. To be honest the first thing I said when walking into the flat was, "So you guys live in Central Falls?" which of course was met with blanks stares. Too bad. At night the area is filled with activity so we hit up a few bars as well. By 3am it winded down to just Lisa and her amazing sister Renee, Juanma, Isabel (Steve´s old roommate), and Steve and Susannah. Great night.









Negative: yeaahhhh... so lice season has begun.

Positive: "Call on me" replacing "Lady in Red"

The hardest challenge

After a little over a week off it is back to work with the wonderful kiddos (as I've now been addressing them) of HCA. As to be expected the children wanted to tell me everything they could about their vacations. Most of them went to their pueblos to visit grandparents and a significant amount of lucky ones hit the beaches. For my six year olds they had to draw something great that happened over break. Most drew their families eating, others drew the beach, and two special little ones drew themselves going to McDonalds. I tell you, kids these days...

I do have to point out that I learned something extremely important this week: I have actually found the most difficult thing that has been asked of me to do. At first I thought it was going to be the language barrier but I´ve overcome that and actually learned a great deal from the kids. Then I thought it was controlling the chaos in the classrooms but I've come to terms with that and developed my own techniques. Most recently I thought it was going to be teaching the 5 year olds but I´m now a celebrity and they applaud my arrival. I can officially say that the MOST difficult thing that has been asked of me is teaching Baseball to Spanish children. On Wednesday during class with the third graders Elena asked me if I wanted to teach them a new game. Since they had already been asking me for a new game I agreed wholeheartedly without checking the game first. I should have learned my lesson the first time when she pulled this on me to teach Dodgeball! Now if some of you might know I played softball from when I was nine until fourteen, coached a little girls' team for six years, and have been known to catch a Red Sox game or two...all making me what Elena would call "una profesional". NONE of this makes me capable of teaching eight year old Spanish children! None. The one factor that many people might forget is that Baseball doesn't exist here. The only contact children have with this sport is if a score is reported for the playoffs in the states. For the most part, children in the US have at least walked by a television while a game was on and saw the general set up. Kids here do not have that advantage. It is the equivalent of trying to teach American children cricket...in a foreign language. With all this said I still set out on the task to inform their little minds. After many "Melanie, I no understand" on their part and a lot of acting out plays on my part, we began. Order of problems that needed correcting:

1. To not stand on home plate facing the pitcher.
2. To not carry the bat to first when you hit the ball.
3. To not have the runner on first go get the batter and bring her to first with him.
4. To not throw the ball back to only the pitcher and expect an out.
5. To not touch the base with the ball.

My parting words to this class? Go home and research the game in Spanish! Come Thursday Elena thought it would be hysterical to explain to everyone at lunch my performance the day before. Basically she made me look like a crazy person running around the gym screaming at children. Awesome. I did teach another third grade class the game that afternoon and it went much better. More understanding all around and the game went faster. I could, however, have done without their brawling at the end...I guess Baseball will always be Baseball no matter where I am!

Negative: [hint] I never get any mail...

Positive: I have new piercing!! (which my children adore, I am so popular!)

I win: Bratislava...Toma!

On the Thursday of my trip to Hungary I decided to do something a little sneaky, I took the two and a half hour train ride to Bratislava. Those of you not familiar with this city it is the capital of Slovakia, formally of Czechoslovakia, and the focal point of the horror movie "Hostel". For those of you not familiar with why I consider going there to be 'sneaky', my parents and I have a competition to see who can go to the most countries. After an unfortunate choice on their part to secretly visit Amsterdam before visiting me in Madrid a few months ago, they started a war. And if any of this surprises you about myself or my parents then you don't know me and shouldn't be reading my blog.

The train ride went by rather quickly and gave me the opportunity to see the countryside. I must say, especially on the ride back, the scenery was stunning. The houses were built up into the hills around the train stations and the fields and lakes were breathtaking. I've seen a lot of the Spanish countryside and the two do not compare. In Spain's defense, the area I have seen is from the south and is more dry and barren. The countryside of Hungary and Slovakia is green and lush.
From the train station I took a short tram ride to the river and from there started exploring. Bratislava is a tiny city and all its important buildings are located next to each other. I made the 15 minute trek up the hill to see the castle only to find out it was completely under renovation, but the view of the entire city was worth it. Like most cities, there is a church as the focal point, but I'm completely 'church-ed' out after my first few visits to Europe so I observe from the outside. There were a few markets going on so I saw a lot of the local culture preparing for Easter and it was great. I grabbed lunch at an outdoor cafe on the main street and people watched for an hour or so.

In my opinion there isn't much to do in Bratislava but its worth the visit. I couldn't imagine keeping myself busy for another day without the help of a local, but the city is precious. There is an air about it that is so friendly and so relaxing, it was hard not to enjoy the sunshine and sights.

Negative: Looking like a fool asking to exchange Euros for the currency of Slovakia.

Positive: Seeing a full rainbow for the first time in years.

Buda y Pest

It's nice to leave college and still get the perks of a Spring Break. Here in Spain they like to celebrate every holiday to the maximum potential, which means I had eleven days off for Semana Santa, or Holy Week. After much debate I finally chose Hungary as my destination. At school I was met with many confused looks and questions: Why Hungary? Well, quite frankly, Why not? My only stint in Eastern Europe has been to Tallinn, Estonia and I loved it. Besides, Budapest was the cheapest flight I could find. I booked my flight and hostel about a week before leaving and that was that.

My flight landed in Budapest a little after midnight on the Monday. After reading lots of material stating that taxis were not safe and were a rip off, I chose to do the smart thing and get a ticket on the airport shuttle. As promised the shuttle took me from the airport to the address of my hostel, which turned out to be a construction site. The driver told me, through hand signals, which way to walk in the deserted area. After some help from the Kebab shop owner I made my way to the address. Pressed the buzzer for the only hostel listed, even though it was a different name, and stared at the scary door. The answer I got on the other end was less than pleasant while informing that he was closed and that it wasn't the right hostel and he couldn't help me because I had woken him up. Right. I asked the casino owner next door if he knew the hostel and he did not. So I wandered the deserted streets of Budapest after 1 am without a clue. I tried to call my friends with internet for help in getting more information, but was unsuccessful. After awhile I found a Best Western and asked for a room there. Holding back both the impulse to cry and punch the concierge in the face when he told me "You might want to find someplace, ahem, more in your price range..." I eventually got a room. After being so scared, the next emotion that follows is anger so needless to say getting to sleep was a hassle.

The next morning I went in search of the hostel to no avail so hopped the metro to the city center. I hit up information first and then found a nice office in charge of getting people places to stay. The woman offered me a loft with a German girl for three nights which would be cheaper now that there were two of us. The girl was extremely nice and I lucked out because the place overlooked the water and Buda. We were on the same schedules so getting up early was easy and then we'd go our separate ways. At night we'd recap and share interesting places for the other to check out.

Recapping my trip is a little difficult only because I'm not the museum type. [With the exception of Brussels where I went to two chocolate museums.] I do a lot of exploring on foot and take many pictures. I did enjoy the city very much and took in many of the classic things. I love to get lost down side streets because that is where most of the hidden things can be found. Both Buda, which is where the Palace and Fisherman's Bastion are located, and Pest, the city center, were wonderful. So much history involved in all the buildings and sights.

Budapest was great and I defintely recommend it. No matter what the trouble was in the beginning the city made up for it. Great people, transportation, and weather all made for a great vacation!

Negatives: Three hour plane delays on the way home.

Positive: Langos (typical Hungarian flat bread)

Seriously? How is this my life?

I don't think I can even express how ridiculous my life is nowadays. Sometimes I look back on these posts and realize that I often lead a crazy life. Whether it is something my children do at school or something the Spaniards do in life, I am always amazed. I've debated for a few days how to retell the story of my Tuesday. I thought maybe I'd post a tiny bit of the subject and tell readers to email me if they wanted details. I also thought about censoring the story a little bit based on the demographic. And then it hit me, I haven't really censored much else in this blog (which is evident) and I wouldn't be keeping true to myself if I didn't put in the whole story. So without further adieu here goes nothing:
[This post is dedicated to my grandma and my aunt Lydia]

Tuesday:
On Mondays and Tuesdays I read to the Infantil kids in the morning for a half an hour each per class. Only three classes in total so the 30 minutes doesn't seem to take too long. They pretty much love anything you do and every week its like Christmas becasue you're are there. Great self-esteem boost on crappy mornings. So I head off to the second 5 year old class with my Old McDonald book ready to enlighten these little minds (haha). As I'm reviewing their names and ages one little boy, I'll call him 'H', says something to me that I missed. So I asked him to repeat what he was saying and it went something like this (clearly I'm translating): "Teacher, you have huge boobs." ...and he used his arms to demonstrate just how big. I glance at the permanent teacher and she has her head down looking at papers. (Later she told me that she was so embarrassed and was hoping I didn't understand).
Well that 30 minutes dragged on after I told 'H' he couldn't say that, but he didn't understand me. I returned to the English room and told my counterparts...they found it hysterical. Story's over right? Wrong!

After Recreo I went to my 1st grade class to teach them about their families. Earlier in the week I had given them a great laugh talking about my family. First, they couldn't understand how my parents could possibly have names like Monqiue and Keith, it just blew their minds. Second, having not one but two grandfathers whose names began with 'W' is a hard concept to grasp. The 'W' is not a popular letter in the Spanish language and for names it is unheard of, except in my case. But I will say that in the end I won out when I had to choose one uncle to tell them about. Although I have many great uncles to choose from I had to go with my uncle Mickey, for obvious reasons. I was greeted with cheers and hysterics becuase of...MICKEY MOUSE!!! While the rest of my family might not have a high approval rating from my 6 year olds, my uncle Mickey has won them over.
Anyways, back to the story. At the end of this class they were instructed to draw themselves and talk about their features. To get them started I decided to draw a picture of myself on the board (I'm becoming a great chalk artist). I was explaining to them to draw their hair color and eye color, and I even gave myself earrings. While I'm finishing the last touches on my full length drawing I hear one girl, we'll call her 'P', tell me she has a question. "Melanie, Where are your boobs? You have big boobs, why didn't you draw them too? You have to have your boobs!" So the teacher tells her she's rude and that she can't say that to me and I just laugh. I explain to the teacher what happened in the morning and said that I'm giving up.
Back to the English room to hear more laughing and then a discussion about why this was happening today. What was different about today? Was it my clothing? For the record, I was wearing a white teeshirt and a button up sweater! Story ends here? Obviously not!

After lunch I went to gym class with my 2nd graders and Elena. She informs me that the class is free time for them because it's right before the break and neither of us had anything planned. So we're sitting in the circle while the kids are fooling around and I tell her about the events of my day.
We're having a good laugh when out of no where four or five of the students put their knees inside their teeshirts giving them the appearance of boobs and start saying "I'm Melanie, I'm Melanie!" and hobbling around the group. I officially lost it. I was literally on the floor in hysterics, Elena as well, because we could not believe what we were seeing.
This Tuesday was by far the most ridiculous day of my life and it was at the hands of small children. At first I started to think how ridiculous it was that these children have no filter. Then as the day progressed I gave up analyzing any of it and just went with the flow. Although, I have to admit, if they're just noticing now then maybe we have bigger problems on our hands to deal with...

Also, telling the story in English is bad enough, but when you have to say it in Spanish it gets that much more embarrassing. Fantastic! I brought one of my coworkers to tears he was laughing so hard.

The rest of the week continued in this crazy way and now I'm on Easter break, (or Semana Santa). I leave on Monday for someplace great but you'll have to wait till I get back to know where exactly it is...

Negative: March Madness is almost over and I might lose in my pool to a Spaniard.

Positive: Learning that 'grillos' are always black.

No me toques, no soy una guitarra!

This week may have been one of the most interesting in awhile. I don't know if its the weather or the beer at lunch or my comfort level here, but something is definitely happening around me. I swear I spent this whole week laughing and having a fun time while working. Even my night classes have been filled with laughter. The other day we did a segment on their thoughts of the US and we were all crying at the end of class. We were laughing so hard at each other and the crazy things that they came up with that no one could hold back the hysterics. I'm so glad that this semester's adult classes are so much better. I really enjoy my students and I can tell they really enjoy coming to class.

Monday and Tuesday at HCA were normal as far as classes went. The students are the same more or less. They talk a lot and do really frustrating things, but I enjoy them still. The English room on the other hand gets crazy and crazy. I think we have too much fun in there, and I know for a fact that the other teachers wonder just what goes on. I am proud to say that the room is now adorned with a hand painted American flag (picture to come soon). Thirteen stripes and fifty stars now cover the British cross because lets be honest, no one in the room is from there!

Wednesday was a little different though, there was a strike. I went to school on Wednesday with the intention of leaving before lunch because there were supposed to be few teachers and students. However, that was not the case, I put in a full day of nothing. The strike was for public school teachers against something to do with private schools. As you can see I didn't really pay attention because it doesn't have anything to do with me. Only about six teachers were at school out of about 40, and only about 200 children out of 753. They watched a movie, played on the playground, ate lunch, finished the movie, and went back to the playground. I read all the children's books we have in the room, wandered, went out for drinks at lunch, shot around on the playground, and played basketball with the kids. Super productive. I should have been more prepared with Spanish work or a book, but in the end I say it all worked out: I finally got to play basketball! I went out with the intentions of playing alone but when the little ones came out I had no choice, sadly. Apparently over the many years of not playing I've gotten a good shot going for myself and the kids were impressed. They all wanted me on their team (for the record I wasn't the only adult, just the best one) and were mad when I didn't shoot. I did the responsible thing and passed everytime. In the end I was given an ultimatum by Pablo to shoot and make us win or he wasn't going to listen to me in class anymore. Wonderful.
On a sidenote I've really been enjoying going out for drinks at lunch. Usually we find a place that has outdoor seating and we sit in the sun drinking cañas. It's a perfect break in the middle of the day and we might as well take advantage of the two hours!

Thursday started off on a fantastic note as always. My Thursdays begin with the lovely little children of 2A and their constant need to touch me. I am usually prepared for it and know who to avoid and so on. However, we have a new substitute gym teacher for a month named Alfonso and I was distracted. As we're standing there talking one little darling decides that this is the perfect moment to LIFT MY SKIRT! I wish I was joking, I wish I could tell you that she only lifted it half way, I wish I could say that no one was looking...but I can't. So we had a nice little chat and he flipped out on her and life continued. Well, until he told everyone at lunch... Alfonso and I spent most of the class talking about how the kids have a weird attraction to touching me. Even as class continued they would hang on my legs, try to jump on my back, poke me, or, my personal favorite, touch my face. I think they're like cats in the way that they can sense who doesn't like it. I don't like to be touched therefore the children must touch me. It's how life works I guess. Lesson for next week? Don't wear a skirt around this class, ever.
Translation of the title (literal): Don't touch me, I'm not a guitar. However, in Spanish the verb tocar also means "to play an instrument" so its a cute little word play that I was taught after this delightful day. It applies.


On a sidenote, I successfully got my hair cut today. This may seem simple to everyone reading this but in fact there is more to the story. With the exception of the unfortunante bangs incident of '06 and last week when Juanma cut my hair, I have had the same hairdresser my entire life. For 23 years my aunt has been cutting my hair and today that all changed. I guess secretly I always just assumed she would fly out here...

Negative: Not having a clue what I'm doing for Semana Santa.

Positive: My portero invited me for coffee!