Halfway through already!

Happy Sunday everyone,

I have realised that the blog completely slipped my mind this week so I am going to try and be extra detailed  to make up for that.

This week has gone so quickly! It feels like we have been here in Spain so much longer than just two weeks and I feel so settled in this little routine. Don't get me wrong,the days are long and tiring but I just find it so enjoyable being in the school. It is quite a small institution in a small town so even as I am walking through the streets to and from the train I am getting "Hi Alicia" shouted at me from all directions. I have been  made to feel so welcome by all of the staff and the pupils and I really think I could stay.

I am getting to do such a good amount of teaching. The main teacher I am with, Beni, is absolutely brilliant! She is so supportive and enthusiastic and I am so happy to be with her. She gives me quite clear instructions of "Ok this is where we are up to and this is what I need them to be working on....but you take this and do what you want with it" and I am so grateful for that as it is helping me to work as creatively as I can. She is also great to have in the classroom because she helps to rein the 30+ kids back in when they get a little too loud. One thing you need to accept if you are going to teach here in Spain is that silence is just never going to happen. It can be a  challenge sometimes but it is just how they are.

That said, you can still channel their energy into something productive and when it works it feels amazing. Particularly with my year 7/8 classes (who I have the most time with) I am finding there is more to play with and they can get so engaged. On Friday, for example, I had a reading lesson with my year 8s. The text was about William Shakespeare and I was worried they wouldn't really care but I was so wrong. They were so keen to know more about him and desperate to answer questions, the atmosphere in the lesson was great. With the help of Joe, I planned an activity the night before with them writing their own biographies about randomn people from different decades and they couldn't get enough. They were so into it and I am looking forward to reading their final pieces in our next class together.

I really do feel in my element here and if I could stay then I think I would. Valencia is an amazing city and yesterday we all met up in Gandia to see some of the group who are living there. It is a beautiful, sleepy, seaside town and it was such a relaxing Saturday. We met up, wandered around under the sun and then just sat in a local fisherman's bar watching the world go by as we all compared stories from our weeks. By the sounds of things everyone is enjoying themselves, even with the different difficulties that teaching throws at you, and we are all so grateful for the experience. It did a lot of good to just take a break and meet up together and now it is time to get ready for the week ahead.

I'm going to stop typing now, you will be glad to read.