Sunday, April 3, 2011

Standing on the rooftops, everybody scream your heart out. -- (lostprophets)

Month seven has come and gone! I officially have a plane ticket back to the U.S. and three months left in Spain. Going home will be unbelievably bittersweet. The last month has been a really great one here.

I spent ten hours in Jesús-María elementary school, talking in English with the elementary students. The administration set it up so that I will spend 20 hours there over a two-month period. In total I'll spend two afternoons (two hours) with each class from first grade to sixth grade.  I'm not going to lie--the first couple of weeks I didn't enjoy it that much.  I'm not a teacher; I was nervous and unsure of whether I was connecting with the kids or if they understood me.  Insecurity.  The past weeks have been awesome, though, and the kids have been so excited to have me there.  It has brought a lot of energy to my life and I will be sad when it my time is up at the end of April.

Spring has arrived in Burgos! Friday it was 70 degrees; the locals assure me it's not usual for it to be that warm, but I am quite happy with the normal 40-60 degree range.  The trees are budding and the grass has stared to grow again. Friday I asked María if she planned to plant anything in the window box-type things she has outside.  She said no, and told me I can plant whatever I want there. They're pretty small so I think I will plant lettuce and maybe some mint or herbs.  I have absolutely no gardening experience (except pulling weeds-ha) so I am excited for this little experiment.

Friday, another exciting thing happened--I got a bike.  The university here has a bike-loaning program; you pay a deposit to borrow a bike and they return the deposit if you return the bike in good condition.  Friday I went and borrowed the last bike they had. I am excited about no longer being dependent on the bus system and will be using it a lot to go to Jesús-María.

The downside of all this greatness is, of course, the massive amounts of homework my teachers have been assigning. I am also aware of the proximity of finals--they're still two months away but I have a feeling they're going to creep up on me. Latin has been boggling my mind but I've learned a lot in the past few months. I'm kind of burned out on studying but only have two months to go.

Judging from the first few days of April, it's going to be a wonderful spring.

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