Una Semana, trés cuidades. Santiago, Lugo, and Ferrol

Well, I realize a decent amount of time has elapsed since I last updated this blog, and quite a lot has happened (as usual). I'm now living in Spain! I mean, actually LIVING in Spain! It has been a crazy three weeks, and I still don't feel completely settled, but am definitely getting there. Galicia has had exceptionally good weather lately, and the last four days have been sunny here, while the rest of the country has been poured on. ("The rain is Spain falls mainly on the plains...")

So, here is what I've been up to:

School. I suppose it would be appropriate to begin with my job, as it is the reason I am here. Classes last week went well. I only had class on Monday and Tuesday, as all the Auxiliares met for an orientation in Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday. I was looking forward to returning there, as it was my first landing place in Spain, and still feels like home in a way. (Plus the music scene there is unbelievable.) Just so you know, here's an ultra-quick break down of the Spanish Educational system: Education is mandatory in Spain from the age of 6 to 16, but many begin "Educación Infantil" at 3 years of age. from 2-12 years they attend primary school, where I'm teaching, also known as colegio, then from 12-16 they attend Secondary School, or Instituto. Spanish studenst then have the option of attending Bachillerato to further their studies until the age of 18, and after that is Professional school. Education is funded WELL by the government, and unlike in the United States, the public schools here are in fact much better than the private ones. They tend to have better resources, facilities, and educators.

Galicia is unique in that it is a semi-autonomous region, with its own unique language that has been an integral component of the education here for centuries. Recently, the Spanish government passed a series of reforms focused on expanding "pluriligual" education, meaning that a third of the curriculum is to be taught in Gallego, a third in Spanish, and a third in English. So, in theory all young Galicians are being raised trilingual. Most of them also take French or another language later in their scholastic career. The issue of language is highly politicized here, and many nationalists feel that by cutting Gallego in schools, the government is attempting to systematically eradicate Galician heritage. I find it very inspiring how passionate people are about maintaining the language.

Anyway, I digress... ...back to the kids! The kids are great! I am working with 4th, 5th, and 6th level students, aged 8 -12. I get to teach arts and crafts with the 5th and 6th graders, which is a blast. The sixth grade class is relatively proficient in English, so they are easy. The fourth and fifth graders are a little harder, and I tend to explain things in English once to a blank stare, translate a few words into Spanish, still to a blank stare, and then Macarmen, their full-time english teacher, who they call "profe," will repeat the instructions in English, which they all understand because they're used to her accent. It's delightful. Slow going, but they're getting used to me, and have begun to call me "profe" as well, and ask me for help. I've never taught in a classroom before, and it is fascinating to observe the dynamics of each class, learn the individual personalities of the kids, and see what approaches are effective, and which are not.

I've also found that children this age have attention spans of approximately twenty seconds. Thirty if you're lucky. And trying to get a nine year old to speak English in front of an American? That in itself takes about fifteen seconds of the kid staring straight ahead evading eye contact and struggling to find words. So, by the time any student begins to form an English sentence outloud, the rest of the class has already begun to poke each other in the face, grab one anothers notebooks or hair, or raise their hands to finish the sentence for the poor struggling student! The teacher I am assisting is wonderful though, and she's very flexible and willing to try anything, so for that I'm grateful. The school has never had a language assistant before, so it's definitely a blind leading the blind situation, but we all seem to be enjoying the shared confusion.


And now for what I did this weekend! So, after orientation, which was catered quite well, we walked around Santiago on a guided tour, learned the history of the town a bit, and I decided to stay there for the night. (one night turned into six....) I had intended to go out to the pubs to play more music, but was stricken down by a cold, and instead stayed with my lovely friends I had met in the hostel three weeks ago. On Saturday, Rachel and I headed to Lugo for the festival of San Froilán, an IMMENSE festival celebrating the region's artistic, musical, theatrical, and gastronomic heritage.

We spontaneously jumped on the bus, and were grateful to catch a sunny day after so much rain, arriving before lunch in a beautiful city surrounded by the largest standing Roman wall in Northern Spain. Lugo is the oldest urban settlement in Galicia, as it was founded by the Romans in 14 BC. Needless to say, it has a lot of history. This weekend, however, it was packed to the brim with carnival rides for kids, music performances, outdoor stalls selling all sorts of gifts, Galician foods, churros, french fries, cotton candy and roasted nuts, and a ton of vendors selling knock off designer sunglasses and bags. To escape the craziness a little, and explore the city, we decided to walk the periphery of the city via the Roman wall:
Look ma! I'm a Roman! Two thousand years ago I doubt the view beyond this wall resembled what it does now... there's more city beyond of the wall! By some stroke of luck, while walking along the wall that was built before Jesus, we ran into another Auxiliar, who offered us a place to stay. So, we got to stay for the night life, which is definitely the best part of the festival. We watched an eclectic mix of concerts, ranging from traditional folk groups, to street performers, to a metal band on a huge stage. It was wonderful. We ate churros con chocolate, then met up with Spanish friends of ours, and hit the clubs until 7 am. This is where we all ate lunch, it was a stall at the fair that presented itself very well with the smoking meats, but ended up costing an excruciating amount of money for mediocre food. Such is life. Never again will I be fooled by fair foods....

More of the beautiful streets. You can see the cathedral, the tallest building in the city by far. Some traditional performers! The musicians were all in the back. i have to admit, this style of dance is much more fit for a Ceilidh in the streets than it is for the stage, but it was great fun. This stage was set up in the plaza next to the cathedral, and when we went in to explore the building, we could hear the music from within. It almost shook the walls, but the people praying didn't seem too perturbed. ...And all the people at night.... We caught a few more performances on Sunday morning and at an amazing Tortilla Español before heading back to Santiago. I spent the rest of Sunday and most of Monday recovering from exhaustion (surprise surprise) and came back to Ferrol on Tuesday. Tuesday was the "Día de Espanidad," the day that Columbus discovered America. What a perfect excuse to take a holiday. When I came back to Ferrol, the sun was shining, and I felt as though I was returning home. Finally, I feel like I live here. Today I walked around the old part of town and took a few photos, so I hope you enjoy them. I hope to challenge and overcome Ferrol's reputation of being a a city that's not worth visiting, as so many Spaniards have told me, because honestly, I love it here. It is beautiful and humble. Two of my favorite qualities in a place. And the ocean is everywhere; you can feel it in the air, without being overwhelmed by that fishy smell that sometimes haunts port towns. We'll begin with the photos of the port at sunset. Welcome home!
So I like boats, judge me. Roomies!
These are the photos I took on my walk around today (Thursday) during siesta time. Another sunny, beautiful day in Ferrol. I'm getting a little worried, apparently the weather here is supposed to be horrible, but I haven't experienced it yet. First, I welcome you to the Pirates of the Caribbean street: None of the plants on this roof were planted. This is the Alley Way of the Day for Sylvia: This one is for sale! I just love the building below. It's red, and it's an old Tortillera (tortilleria?) I don't know how to spell it. But I'm hoping it's still in business, because I bet the Spanish tortillas there are amazing. (fyi, a "tortilla Español" is kind of a Spanish version of an omelet crossed with a frittata. It usually is eggs, potatoes, and onions, fried and simultaneously fluffed to perfection in a healthy serving of olive oil. It is my FAVORITE thing about Spain maybe ever.) I have no idea what this building is, it's in restoration I believe. I just couldn't resist taking a picture of the haunted house with the playground in the foreground. After all, Halloween is right around the corner!

And I will leave you with this final photo, because I'm sure you can imagine my shock and awe when I stumbled across an O'Neill in downtown Ferrol. What's up Santa Cruz!? (Apparently Ferrol is actually a big surfing town. There are over thirty beaches within a 30 km radius. I can't wait for summer.)

That's all for now. Hope it wasn't too much, or too boring. Tomorrow I plan to test my skills at making a tortilla Español, so maybe I'll let you know how that works out. Ciao!