Espain has been so so lovely, we have SUNLIGHT here! I work in the most extra eschool there is, it is also a church and it is magnificent; in the morning when I go to work, the sunlight hits it in just the right angle to make me reconsider all my previous life choices. (Pictures can't do it justice.)
Gandía, size- and excitement-wise, is somewhere between Valencia and Moncada. There are a few bars/clubs and restaurants, churches and monuments, mountains and beaches, but not enough to make it a major tourist attraction in the middle of January. People are super friendly and strangers in the street maintain eye-contact for a long time. The interesting thing is the manifestations of political viewpoints on the walls - it is a teeny bit ambiguous, but ho hum. There are also some anarchist logos around town, it truly is rather interesting.
My school is the nicest place ever, every single teacher and nun is so incredibly nice and helpful to me!!! I (and my language skills) feel really appreciated, there is always somebody who comes up to me to practise their English. I just realised how contradictory that sounds... they are using me! Oh boy. It is okay though. It be like that sometimes.
No, really, everybody is great. There is a very goal- and result-oriented teacher at my school who is very keen on projects. He proposed I do one with a class that we can then forward to the newspapers - he strives to give the school a good name. It sounds a bit stressful but also, it is such a great opportunity to have some evidence of my existence and endeavours! And to contribute to such an active and positive school.
My tutor and the other English teachers are very helpful and they let me use my own methods in class. They are always in the classroom with me when I teach and it felt a little bit risky/awkward to ask them to just sit in the corner and not interact with the kids but they have been understanding and helpful. In fact, in one of the very first lessons that I only observed, we did a short Q&A at the end, and two students came up to the teacher and asked her if they could be taught only by me with her not being there because when she is there, they automatically switch to Spanish if they can't find the English word, and they want to be forced to speak only English.
The rules and the point system do wonders. When I tell 12-year-olds that they can get a plus if they follow the rules (speak English, listen to the teacher and each other, and put your hand up if you want to speak), and the ones with the most pluses at the end of the lesson get stickers, they work really hard to do so and the only time they get loud is when they feel someone didn't deserve a plus or if they feel I should have given them a plus when I didn't. There are some individuals who couldn't care less about stickers, I will have to figure something out for them. Any tips are welcome.
The kids are lovely, everybody knows me by name in the school, I get a lot of 'Hola, Anna!'s from kids I have never seen before. They seem to be happy with me, although in one of my classes, a student came up to me after I didn't give him a sticker (because he was not in the winning group) and told me that "I have him mania" which is the literal translation of the Spanish saying meaning I hate him. Hehe. Hopefully it will motivate him to try harder next week. :)
Okay, bye!
Anna (T. (in Gandía (oh, yeah, this is another thing - every time I introduce myself 'My name is Anna,' there is at least one girl whose hand shoots up in excitement, shouting 'ME TOO!')))
P.S. I don't mean to be offensive with the 'e's - this is how most people speak here and I LOVE it, it gives me a reason to wake up in the morning.
Estop it.
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