Fieldtrip!!

Christmas is almost here and I have so much to share. A lot has happened recently. Last week was my last week of work until January 8th. I didn’t do a whole lot of actual work though. On Wednesday all of the students in the school (over 100 12-16 year olds) went on a field trip to Granada to the Science Park. I got to go along with six other teachers. I will certainly be volunteering myself for any other field trips in the future. It was a blast and it didn’t cost me a dime. The students have to pay to go, but part of that money is put toward feeding the teachers! Sign me up!

The Park itself was fascinating. I enjoyed all of the exhibits so much more than I would have when I was in school. One girl on the trip is actually from England, but her family now lives here in Spain. She speaks English and stuck to me like glue wanting me to explain everything. (I later taught some of the teachers the saying ‘like white on rice’) Some of the other students are getting used to having me in class now and they kept pulling me in one direction and then the other. We got to learn about the human body; blood, bones, genes, organs. Then they put on a show with eagles, hawks, and owls. The birds flew right above our heads a couple of times. There was even a video playing at one of the exhibits of a woman giving birth and it thoroughly grossed the students out. Haha.

When we were done we all went to the mall so the kids could be let loose for a couple of hours and the teachers could escape. The first thing the teachers did was go to the first restaurant they saw, order some food to snack on, and drink a beer! They very easily rationalized that we weren’t driving so it was a fantastic idea. I was super excited at one point because I actually made a joke in Spanish that everyone laughed at! It can be hard sometimes to make a joke, insinuate something, add your personality into what you are saying, etc because you are so concentrated on simply speaking and being understood. It was a good moment.

Next, we went to a Mexican restaurant to eat our meal. It was a very funny experience to have. When I was leaving the States, many people thought I would be eating food similar to mexican food in Spain, but I knew more about the food than the teachers did. To Spanish people a tortilla is an egg omelet. One of the teachers said her ears were warm from the spice and I tasted hotness ranging from mild to ketchup. :-) The principal was also worried about the time. We were cutting it a little close, so he made sure to ask the waiter about three times to bring the food out quickly. But before the waiter left the principal made sure they served coffee. Even in a hurry there’s always time for coffee in Spain. It ended up that some students came to track us down because it was time to go back to the bus and we were still in the restaurant.

The one downfall to the day was that I didn’t get to walk around Granada at all or see my friends there. It felt great to smell the fresh mountain air, though, and the view of the mountains and the Alhambra (Granada’s major site to see) was absolutely beautiful from the tower at the Science Park. I miss it a lot! Sorry, no photos of this trip. I completely spaced out and forgot the camera at home. Hopefully I can get some from the teachers and students when we get back to school.

Besos