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

Teachers on Strike

So earlier this week, I {Kelly} received an e-mail from one of the schools I will be working in.  The language department has been in communication with me and informed me that even though I am supposed to start work on Tuesday, the teachers are striking and so I should not plan on coming into school until I hear back from them.  

We had heard bits and pieces through facebook and on the streets {lots of green t-shirts!} about the teachers striking but assumed it wasn’t a big deal.  Well we were very, very wrong.  Apparently the government enforced a rule just last month that states, instead of teachers teaching in Castilian (the Spanish we know) and Catalan (the island’s native language), evenly throughout the day, they are being forced to teach in Castilian, Catalan, AND English equally.  So 33% of the day they will have to teach in English- a language that many of them do not know or only know the basics of. 

Ummmm, what?  For me, I guess I'm wondering, how can we blame them for striking?  Do you know Castilian?  Do you know Catalan?  What if our government suddenly told you that you would have to spend 33% of the day teaching in Castilian?  Could you effectively teach math when you are only able to teach it in Catalan?  I know I would not, could not, be an effective math teacher like that.  The amazing thing is however, the teachers are totally fine with having to do this.  It’s just that it was enforced last month.  Where’s the training?  Where’s the support?  Apparently there is none.  Give them time and they can adapt.  However, time is not being provided and thus teachers are striking. 

The other side here is the students.  Not all students have been raised in homes that speak English.  So even if you were trained in Castilian and walked into your classroom and gave a rockin’ math lesson, in perfect Castilian, would all of your students understand the lesson?  In order to implement something like this, teachers and students need time.  They need to slowly be immersed into this.  They need to learn together, not separately or all in one month.  There needs to be proper implementation, which it seems there is not. 

As of now, not all the schools are on strike and Will is still good to go to his school- we believe!  It will be very interesting to see how this all unfolds and plays out... What are your thoughts on this?  Anyone?

As of now, I'm not too upset about not having to go back to work quite yet :)

XO!  Kelly & Will

Enjoying some Spanish television

What better way to past the time but by enjoying some El Mentalist!! 

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! :)

Chillin' (in Mallorca)

Hangin out, having a few drinks, and watching soccer. It's 10 pm so we're just warming up...

One of my favorite parts of Spain

So. Much. Sangria!!

Castle!

Who doesn't love a 700 year old castle??  There's a beautiful castle not too far from where we're staying that we've been eyeing up for a while, so we finally made the choice to go check it out!  We got to the entrance and were greeted with these guys. 

So.Many.Stairs.
When we got to the top, we were confronted with THIS

 And at the top of that,

 And then once we got up there....

FINALLY we reached the top and were greeted by this castle.  It was built in 1311 by King James II of Mallorca.  It is unique because it is one of the only round castles in Spain. 

 

XO, Kelly & Will

Back to the beach!!

Yesterday we ventured back to the beach, but this time we found the bus and went a little further out!  It turns out that just 30 minutes on the bus is 30 minutes (and 3 Euros) well spent!!  We neared the end of the bus line, hopped off, and were immediately rewarded with this...

We plopped our towels down less than 6 feet from the water and hung out. 

 I can't believe how BLUE the water is here.  There were tons of little fish that were swimming around in the shallow water and would come up and nibble on your leg or bump into you.

In other news, we met up with other people in our program last night and got to know them!  They're all so nice and easy to talk to.  I'm pretty sure we're the only ones not fluent in Spanish, so we've signed up to start taking a class once or twice a week in order to learn a little faster!  Hopefully this helps!

XO, Kelly & Will