aventuras de alyssa

Day 2 at school! I had three English classes and my first day of 3rd grade Spanish. Let me tell you, 3rd grade Spanish is pretty difficult when your “profe” (teacher!) speaks very rapidly. I sit with the students and Ana, the profe, calls on me occasionally – which kind of threw me off, but the kids are very helpful and excited that I’m in class. I even have homework!

I had class with Luis first (4th grade) and I taught them the Unicorn song & dance. I had prepared a worksheet to fill in some of the lyrics to help them with vocabulary. The kids had fun acting out the different animals. I had class with Ana Maria second and we did the song & dance, but not the worksheet because it was a little too advanced for 3rd grade. Finally, I had class with Sandra, who I met yesterday but hadn’t had class with previously. It’s 4th grade and Sandra teaches the entire class in English, whereas Luis and Ana Maria teach in both English and Spanish. Sandra’s students were extremely well-behaved and she uses a lot of songs, repetition, and conversation to teach. It’s very interesting to witness the different teaching styles.

After school, we had lunch – Rosa made breaded turkey, soup, and patatas bravas. She keeps telling me she’s not a good cook, but everything I’ve had is delicious and perfect for me (since we all know I’m very picky!). We spoke about our different eating habits and how in Spain, lunch is usually 3 courses and dinner is one and I explained how it’s essentially the opposite in the USA. After lunch, we met up with the family that I will be giving private English lessons to. They were so incredibly nice!! They want me to converse with their son (7 years old) and daughter (5 years old). I’ll be spending time with them once a week and occasionally going on excursions with them!

In the evening, we met up with Rosa’s best friend, Elena, and they had a meeting, so Juanjo and I went for a nighttime walk around Tordesillas. Usually, the bridge in the photo below is illuminated, but Juanjo said it was too early for the lights since we went right after sundown. After our walk and their meeting, we met up at a local hotel for a coffee. Elena’s son joined us, he’s about 12 years old, and the parents were all trying to get him to ask me questions in English. He goes to a bilingual school, but he was very shy and afraid to ask – he was so adorable!!

Hard to see, but this is the sunset and the bridge is there!

We didn’t have dinner until 11 pm because I was showing Juanjo and Rosa pictures of my family, friends, homes, and puppies! They love the dogs and Juanjo kept saying that Cody looks just like a muppet. They said that my family is very “American,” like in the movies that they see here in Spain – making Christmas cookies in matching PJs, having big family gatherings, etc. Guilty as charged!! 🙂 Still don’t think I could’ve asked for a better host family.

Hasta mañana!