Sunday, October 30, 2011

Chill-laxing


Today was a very relaxing day! We got to sleep in till 10:00am but Christa, Chelsea and I totally forgot that it was daylight savings. So we were suppose to meet the other girls and Mereille at 10:00am but instead we were waiting outside at 9:00am. Since we woke up an hour early, we decided to rest a little bit before we actually had to meet up. Mereille came over to help us plan our weeklong trip around to Seville, Ronda, and Granada. Ashley decided to take the plunge in helping plan the weeklong trip with Mereille. THANK YOU GIRLS!!! While they were busy going to the bus stations, and booking the hotels the rest of us decided to walk down to the market that happens every Sunday in the port. There were all sorts of things that you can imagine there, scarves, purses, jewelry…etc. I wanted to buy everything! After walking around and seeing everything we walked back but inside of going our usually route we went towards the beach. We got stuck in a parking lot full of mud, but we eventually worked our way around the big pills. When we arrived back at the apartment; Mereille and Ashley were still working on the plans. 



They said we should go lay by the pool so most of the day we spent the day out by our pool. The view in the back of our apartment is very beautiful; we can see Gibraltar and the top of Africa in the distance. Spending the whole day out by the pool there was a local restaurant on the beach that was having live music and a BBQ. After Ashley and Mereille were done planning the long trip, we all walked down to the restaurant. When we arrived we were very shocked that the live music was a man wearing 70’s looking tight pants that included speakers in them. He even made up his own words to the songs. Very entertaining, we were all laughing! Chelsea had the pleasure of volunteering ;) to sing a song to the rest of the audience but he couldn’t find Grease Lighting! This pretty much ended our day…
 
You may be wondering who Mireille (Mir-ray) is…she is our lifesaver! She is Sam’s cooperating teacher and she is the Physical Education teacher/coach at the International School. Mireille is very welcoming and nice! The first day we got here she took us down to the port and had dinner with us. She has really showed us the taste of Estepona. Also helping us a lot with planning our trips! I don’t know where we would have even begun without her. We also have gone to her apartment to use her Internet since we are waiting till next Monday to set it up because of our weeklong Holiday. Meireille has really helped us with a lot of things and we are learning a lot about the Spanish culture from her!  
~Libby
 


Home Sweet Home!

Our apartments are right on the ocean in the port town of Estepona. It's about a 25 min drive from here to the school in Sotogrande and a couple teachers volunteered to drive us every day. We are in two apartments in the same complex but we have to go outside to get to each others place. Christa, Libby and Chelsea are rooming together in an apartment on the first floor and Alyssa, Ashley and Sam are on the third floor (actually the 4th because they call the first floor bajo and then start with primero on the second floor). The first time we went up to the apartment we tried to take the elevator. It is very small and we all packed in like sardines. The door closed behind us and we pressed the button for the third floor but nothing happened! We realized that we were way over the weight limit for the elevator and frantically pressed the button for the doors to open and nothing happened! We panicked for a couple seconds before the doors finally decided to open. We've been happily taking the stairs ever since! When we got here Pippa (our contact from the school) had pre-stocked our apartment with food. Some of it was familiar (noodles, chips) and some of it was strange (a mystery melon that tasted like sweet honeydew). Our apartments are often rented out to people on Holiday, so there are some goodies left behind in the closets. We had fun exploring and finding an umbrella, lawn chairs, a huge bag, even a mini scooter! Our apartment is right next to the ocean and we have a beautiful view from our windows Unfortunately our keys don't work for the gate to get back from the and we had to be creative to get back into our complex after a walk by the ocean! There is a pool in our yard and perfect weather for sunning and swimming. Plus there are beautiful tropical flowers and plants everywhere. The pictures here are from the window of our third story apartment. Yep, we're living the good life here in Estapona.






Saturday, October 29, 2011

Our First Day of School-Sotogrande Style!

Today was first day of school and man was it fun!  It was the last day before the week-long mid term holiday, so a Halloween Festival was put on.  In the morning, the students planned their own games and prizes; the teachers took no part of it.  The students made up the games, made posters, and brought in their own candies (or sweeties) for prizes.  There was a pillow fight game, a twister-type game, drawing games, and a game where students put vaseline on their noses and then stuck it into a bowl of cotton.  To top of the sweeties, pop was also available.  Needless to say, the kids (and teachers) were quite hyped:  dancing, singing, playing, and running.  It was quite a site to see :)

Then we had a a break, where all the teachers met for breakfast:  coffee, juice, sweets, rolls, bread, cheese,  sausage, and leche frita (fried condensed milk)-very sweet!  While at break, the students continued on with their festivities with no or little supervision.  The students, no matter the age, are very independent and responsible here.  I've noticed how they take responsibility for their actions,  how polite they are when talking to teachers and other students, and how they pick up after themselves without always being told to do so. 

The festivities continued until lunch, when the students gradually wandered over to the lunchroom (or cantina). Time is quite different here.  There are very little clocks in the buildings and no really set schedule.  While my students were at technology class, I noticed no clocks in the room; they just switched classes when the next students came.  There was no bell at the end of the day either.  Students were let out whenever they were ready and got on the buses.

Another difference at the school is the curriculum.  The teachers do not focus so much on standards and set subjects.  Rather there is "theme" for the school where all the subjects are incorporated.  Rather than separate math, language, reading, science, history, art, etc. this "theme" covers everything.  The last theme was called "Exploration."  Starting next Monday, we will be starting the "Festivals of Light" theme, focusing on Divali, Hanaukkah, and Christmas.  The assessments are also quite different.  Spelling and math tests are used, but otherwise mostly projects.  The students just finished up making a movie and presentation on their own explorer.  Yes nine-year olds created a movie and also a project that was presented to the class!  It's very different from the states, but I think we're all going to enjoy learning and teaching with this new kind of curriculum. 

Hola Hola Pepsi Cola!

Whew! We finally made it to Spain! Traveling here was quite the trip. The six of us met at the airport on Wednesday afternoon to start our adventure. We all weighed our luggage to make sure they were under 50 pounds. Everyone was just under 50, aside from Christa, who's bag weighed 57 pounds! So she started taking out things that she didn't really need: 5 belts, baby powder, 12 pairs of high heels, snow pants.. you get the gist. As she was closing her bag, Christa managed to topple everything out of it! So, naturally, we all laughed as she tried to re-pack her bag. JUST KIDDING, we helped her out. :)
After Alyssa went through security and got her hair patted down, we made it onto the airplane. Libby got the privilege of sitting by a woman full of flatulence. As she was sniffing an unpleasant aroma, Chelsea was sound asleep for the whole 8 hours. Finally we made it to France where we had a three hour layover. Christa must have been really exhausted, because she decided to take a nap on a couch in the middle of the hustle and bustle.   

After a two and a half hour plane ride, we arrived in Malaga, Spain. Luckily, none of our luggage got lost, so we picked up our bags and headed outside to meet Rick, who was to pick us up. After going outside and crossing the street, we realized we needed to go upstairs first before going outside. So we took the long way to get back inside and upstairs. Finally we got a hold of Rick and found him with a big van to take us to our apartments in Estapona. We were a little surprised to see that Rick had spiky white hair and was from England! He helped us get into our apartment with our "dodgy" keys. Christa was infatuated with Rick's accent and attempted to talk in her own English accent, which was.. interesting. :)  Needles to say, we have been having a great time getting to Spain and we can't wait to continue our adventure!