Back to real life

We’re all moved in!  We love our apartment and our new roommates.  We’re living with two other girls.  They’re both super sweet and easy going.  And fluent in Spanish- which is a BIG help when your landlords only speak Spanish.  Videos and pictures of our new home coming soon.

Wednesday was our first day back to work!  Holy long Summer.  It was orientation, where we got to learn more about the program, meet the teachers we will be working with, and meet other people who are from the US, France, Ireland, the UK, and Australia who are doing the same thing we are doing.  It just shocks me how I am reminded every single day how HUGE our world is.  There are so many people out there who are doing amazing things that I am completely unaware of.  And most of them speak multiple languages…

I think of one the coolest parts of our orientation was that we got to see more of the teacher strike up close and personal.  The director who is trying to implement this new language law spoke to us.  As soon as she was introduced, all of the teachers who are striking stood up and faced the back of the room.  Talk about awkward!  The director continued to share her speech with us in Spanish, English, and Catalan, obviously trying to make a point that she was able to speak multiple languages.  The teachers faced the back of the room the entire time she was speaking and when the director finally stopped {about 20 minutes later}, they all faced forward and sat back down. 

Before we went to break, the director’s assistant asked that we all went up to take a picture with the director.  It was obviously an attempt to make it appear like everything is kosher, but it was very awkward and uncomfortable.   So, it was cool that we got to see everything in action… not so cool that it was super weird. 

We start in the classroom on Monday!  Our official job is to teach English to Spanish speaking students.  The most exciting part of this is that we will be working with ALL age groups {kinder to high school} and bouncing from classroom to classroom.  I am really excited to be back in the classroom and hear all about Will’s experiences too J 

Until Monday we plan on filling up the apartment with the basics, getting settled in, maybe doing a little hiking, and hitting up the beach some more.  Will is anxiously waiting for his bike to arrive, now that we have an official address. 

And we’ll leave you with some pictures of what we’ve been doing… We'll add more when wifi allows!

 

 

 

Checking out the town of Sineu, where one of the schools I'm working in is located.  It's about a 45 minute train ride away.

 

Cheers!  Kelly & Will