European Adventure Part 2 and Getting Ready to go HOME!

We're back from our trip and getting ready to go HOME! I can't even believe it. The time has absolutely flown by. 

First, the details of our trip!

We first flew to Dublin, where we stayed in a comfy hotel and had a blast. We saw Trinity College, gorgeous cathedrals, and toured Guinness! Guinness was so cool--the brewery tour detailed how Guinness is made and there were lots of interesting machines and demonstrations that were fun to watch. Then, of course, we got to sample Guinness! There are several restaurants at the top of the brewery, but at the very top is Gravity Bar--which is a bar that is surrounded entirely by windows--you get the most amazing view of Dublin!! It was very, very crowded up there, so we didn't stay long--just long enough to get some pictures of the view and then back down. Overall, we had really good weather in Dublin, so that made it even better.

Leslie and I in front of Military Memorial in Dublin

Globe Theater at Night

From Dublin, we flew to London. Unfortunately, since we flew with the budget airline (RyanAir), we had to fly into an airport that was almost an hour away from Central London. So, we stayed in a hotel in Enfield, a small town about 30 minutes away from the airport and 20 minutes away from Central London. It was actually more of a bed and breakfast--it was on top of a bar--but it was a nice room and despite the noise that persisted until almost 1 AM, it was a good place to stay. The train/tube/bus system in London is really easy to figure out, and we were grateful for that. The first night we just relaxed, and the second day, we went into London and saw the Tower of London--which included a look at the Crown Jewels! They were absolutely gorgeous--it made me want to be Queen! ha! We couldn't take pictures, but thankfully I have a pretty decent photographic memory :) Then, we met up with one of Leslie's friends who is a part of the same program as us. She has been teaching secondary theater in a town about an hour from London for the past few months. We met her at the Globe Theater and there we saw 2 plays-A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest. They both were great. I was so impressed with the actors and all the behind-the-scenes work (costumes, stage, makeup, etc.). The actors in The Tempest really interacted with the audience and it was very funny--one of the actors took a guy's beer and proceeded to throw it on him! Midsummer Night's Dream cast didn't interact with the crowd since it would have taken away from the general atmosphere of the play, but the acting was wonderful--it's one of my favorite Shakespeare plays so I was happy :)

Globe Theater

The next day, we walked around to see The Eye of London, Big Ben, and, of course, Buckingham Palace. The Palace was gorgeous. Just being there was cool--I can't imagine what the atmosphere would have been like during the wedding, the Olympics, or any other important event. We also went to Harrods--which was HUGE. I hadn't ever heard of Harrods before, and I don't know how! This was my place. haha We didn't spend a ton of time there, but I probably could have spent a full day in this place--this was just one store, but it was practically the size of two malls. It's "gift shop" took up an entire floor and we spent almost an hour on that floor alone! Towards the end of the day, we traveled out to Wimbledon. I'm bummed that the tournament isn't until July, but it was still cool to see courts and the gift shop :) 

Wimbledon

As I sit here in my room--surrounded by suitcases, clothes, and gifts--I have mixed feelings about leaving. I am SO excited to get back to a "normal" schedule and see my family and friends--and of course my boyfriend :)--but the feeling of closing a chapter of my life is weird. Student teaching is over. Over. I waited and waited and prepared and studied and practiced for student teaching for 4 years, and now it's over. "Real Life" is happening so fast--I'm searching for jobs, tweaking my resume, and thinking about what life will throw at me next year. The people here, for the most part, have been kind and welcoming and I will miss the friends I have made. It's odd to think that I will likely never see any of them again. Someone asked me if I feel more grown up after this experience. I wasn't sure how to answer. I don't really feel more grown up, but I feel like I've gained more perspective. The world is a much larger place than you realize--especially if you've only lived in one country your whole life. But all these people--everyone that I have met--they are all so similar to me, to you, to each other. We're all the same--we're all trying to make it through our daily lives and make the most of the life we've been given. We may speak different languages, have different routines, and believe in a different god, but at our core, we are really all the same. 

On Wednesday morning, I will leave Avila and close this chapter of my life. But it will always be in my mind and heart--and it is an experience that I feel extremely lucky to have had. 

So Many Updates--So Little Time!

Quite a bit of time has passed since I last posted! While I feel like nothing too exciting has happened, I wanted to update you all so you know what's been going on in my life!

First, my last post was about my crazy experience with teachers not showing up to school. I still never really got the full story, but I've gathered bits and pieces of information. According to several teachers, the education system is seriously messed up because every time there is a new politician in charge, he/she changes the laws regarding education. This causes a lot of chaos and uncertainty come election time. The 6th grade teacher, who has been teaching for just over 30 years, has told me multiple times that he is exhausted of teaching. We had a really good conversation the other day; he told me everything that he thought was wrong with the education system, everything he thought was good about the education system, and stories from his previous years of teaching. He said, "You must understand, Taylor, that you are young and I am old. You are fresh, motivated, and excited to teach. I was like that once, but years and years of changing laws has worn me out. I don't want to come across as grumpy and totally negative, and I don't want to discourage you from teaching. That isn't my goal. I just want to be honest with you." I really appreciated our talk. It gave me a good look into the Spanish education system from a teacher's point of view.

Speaking of the 6th grade teacher, I have been with 6th grade for the past week! Anyone who knows me knows that I am not fond of the age group that encompasses 5th and 6th grade, but I tried really hard to go into this last week with an open heart and open mind. A lot of the 6th graders here are beginning to understand the economic crisis and the fact that they are only required to attend school until they are 16. That makes it very difficult for a good number of them to focus and put effort into school. During the first couple days with them I watched in disbelief as the teacher passed back tests. A little over half of the class failed, and those who didn't fail just barely passed. Apparently, this is not uncommon. (How these kids manage to advance grades each year is beyond me.) OH--I suppose I should explain how the grading is done here. In my placement in the States, I was told that letter grades begin at 3rd grade. Here, letter grades pretty much don't exist. Everything is based roughly on a 10/15/20 point scale. The teacher grades the assignment/quiz/test/whatever, puts the number out of the total points at the top, and the writes one of the following next to it: SB (which basically means they overachieved), B (meaning they did well), SU (meaning sufficient, or barely passed), or I (insufficient--they failed). I suppose it's similar to the S++, S+, S, S- system that I've seen in kindergartens around the States. So--anyway--I started teaching. The unit I got stuck with was "The Population in Spain." (Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of research for this unit since I know nothing about the population of Spain haha) I've actually been really pleased with the response that I've received from the kids! There have definitely been moments where I wanted to pull my hair out or straight up scream at some kid because he gave me attitude, but overall, I'm happy with this week.

Today is my last day of teaching here! It's so crazy to think about the fact that I arrived here in March--completely overwhelmed and fairly convinced that this was going to be the longest couple months of my life. But it has gone so much faster and so much better than I expected. It also amazes me at how quickly I figured my way around Avila. It's incredible how quickly you can figure out where things are in a city when you have to walk everywhere you go. Granted--Avila is a super small town and I don't know how to get everywhere, but I know how to get to the most important places, and that's what matters! I'm going to miss this town. It might be small, and there might not be a lot to do, but sometimes that has been nice. Most of the people that I have met have been incredibly kind and welcoming, and I'm going to miss every one of them--from the teachers at my school to the Froyo lady who is always working when we get a craving (which, let's be honest, is at least every other day).

Tomorrow we leave for Dublin. I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO IRELAND! I've secretly always wanted to go there, and I wasn't sure if it was going to happen while I was here. BUT IT IS AND I'M MORE THAN READY!! Lots of packing to do :)

Before I go, I'm going to post some photos since I haven't done that in awhile!

Mother's Day sign in Madrid (by the way: Mother's Day is a week earlier in Spain!)

A fountain in a plaza in Madrid

Our school was featured in the newspaper--and they chose a picture with me in it!

The 5th and 6th graders visited the Avila newspaper/TV station-they loved it!

Craziness...

Sooo..interesting story.

 

Today, I get to school around 8:45, like I usually do, and as its getting closer and closer to 9, I realized that none of the teachers in my building were there yet. I went down to see if they were waiting by the door (like they sometimes are). Nope, no one there. But...all the kids are there, lined up, waiting to be let in. So, not knowing what to do, I let them in. Then I realize the worst thing I could have realized: all of the classrooms were locked and I dont have keys. So I'm standing in the hallway with the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes--you can image how crazy it was. 

 

Finally the headmistress came up and started to open classes, and she told me that only one of the 6th grade teachers and one of the 4th grade teachers were going to be there today. That meant that the teacher I'm working with, the 4th grade English teacher, and the other 6th grade teacher were not coming. Turns out that pretty much only 1 teacher from each grade showed up today. There's some kind of protest going on tonight because of some kind of legislation that just was passed about public schools here..I'm trying to look more into it but I haven't figured out exactly what it is yet. Apparently there was something else going on today related to it, and they just let the teachers not show up! At this school, there isn't really such thing as a substitute teacher, so the headmaster just decided that I could have the 5th grade class. All day. By myself. While this was huge because it shows that they trust me enough to do this, I was still scared to death. 

 

To make things worse, the 5th grade classroom was locked and there were no spare keys anywhere.  It was finally decided that we would use the 6th grade classroom. One problem, though: the kids didn't have their books since the class is locked. Oh, only one problem? No, here's another one: I had nothing planned because the teacher I'm working with told me that today would be her day to teach. Whats more, yesterday I wasn't at school because of a service learning project that we had to do--I had called my teacher to tell her about it and she said not to worry that it would be okay. She said nothing about not being here today and she didn't contact me this morning or last night either. It REALLY would have helped to know that I was going to be alone all day!

 

 Anyways...I finally had the kids sitting down and we were reviewing some of their science (thankfully they had their science books in their backpacks) because apparently they have an exam tomorrow (also news to me). Suddenly, the headmistress comes in and says, "What are you doing?!" So, I explain to her that we're reviewing because the students were told that they have a test tomorrow. She said, "Oh, well, good...good. After this, just let them rest for the remainder of the day, since there are a lot of kids missing today." I looked at my watch, and it was only 10 am. 10 AM. I smiled and said okay, but in my head I was like ITS ONLY 10 AM--WHAT AM I GOING TO DO FOR THE REST OF THE DAY WITH THEM!!?? I knew there was no way I could just let them sit around all day. I might be a new teacher, but I know better than that! So, we played some games and talked in English for a bit. Thankfully the gym teacher showed up and he took them for an hour. When it was finally  break, I Googled ESL games and found a bunch--they get back to class, we start playing, and then the headmistress comes in again and just takes them. Literally just tells them to line up and then leaves with them. I still have no idea where they went. They showed back up about 5 minutes before it was time to leave. 

 

Needless to say, it's been an interesting day. I never know what I will encounter each day here--what will tomorrow bring? I'll find out!

It was inevitable...

It was bound to happen. I knew that at some point on my European adventure, I would get sick. I've been very lucky thus far. I've been sick as a result of food twice, but nothing that ruined my life. But now I am developing a cold. And anyone who knows me well enough knows that I don't just get colds--I get a cold, which develops into a sinus infection, which lasts for way too long, and occasionally turns into an ear infection. (Or a double ear infection if I'm really lucky.) The great part (hint: this is sarcasm) is that the pharmacies here have even weirder hours than the other stores. So..we'll see if I'll be able to get medicine, or if I'll have to let my body battle this one out.

Okay-enough complaining right? Despite feeling bad, on Wednesday, Leslie, Amy, and I traveled to Salamanca. The weather there was much, much nicer than Avila! It was still chilly, but we were more than relieved to see the sun and a blue sky. :) Because it was a fiesta (national holiday), not many stores were open, but we wandered around and looked at some pretty plazas and cathedrals. While we were looking at one of the cathedrals, an older man came up to us and began chatting with us. What started as a casual conversation became a 2 hour private tour of Salamanca! This man, Juan, had to have been close to 70ish. He lives in Salamanca, and he said that he was just out for a walk and to go eat lunch, but that he likes to walk past the Cathedral every now and then. He was so sweet; he took us around to all of the major historical sites of Salamanca, giving us the stories and history behind each one. He told jokes and laughed and was just so happy! At the end of the time, he called us his "new granddaughters." It is sad to think that I will never have the pleasure of chatting with him again, but it was such an awesome experience.  

Today, the five of us girls are going to Madrid. We attempted to get tickets to a Real Madrid game (soccer), but we didn't realize that if you aren't a citizen of Spain (or the European Union?), it is impossible to buy tickets. So, we decided to just go enjoy Madrid and maybe find a pub where we can have some beers and watch the game on TV. I'm sure there will be plenty of stories and pictures to come! 
Our time is wrapping us so quickly! Jamie will be the first to leave--her family is coming to travel with her in a couple weeks. Then, Amy will leave, and Ali is going to travel with her brother for awhile, so we won't see her very much longer. It is going to be weird to be here with everyone else leaving, but Leslie and I are super excited for our trip to Dublin and London!! 

I hope everything is well in the States--I'm thinking about all of you all the time!! <3

Springtime in Avila?

These pictures were not taken a couple months ago. No, these pictures were taken this morning--April 29, 2013. 
"But Taylor," you say, "isn't April supposed to be Springtime?" 
Why, yes. Yes it is. Apparently Mother Nature is having a mid-life crisis. Because it has been snowing all day. While the snow is very, very pretty (as you can see), walking around Avila is not fun in the snow.


Today was unusual, but not entirely bad. The day started off with Leslie knocking on my door for breakfast. "Have you looked out the window?" she said in despair. I hadn't, so I opened my blinds. I was speechless. "Yep," was all she said as I locked my door and we headed for the dining hall. 

I taught science to the 4th grade first thing this morning. Of course all of the kids came in expressing their surprise at the snow this morning and it took them about 15 minutes to get fully calmed down, and even then, they were not ready to focus. Don't you love Mondays? Yeah, me either. The teacher, Gloria, had to leave at 11:30 so she could take her daughter to the doctor. This was perfect for me because I desperately needed to go to the Post Office to get my rent money that my parents had sent via Western Union. I've been trying to get the money for over a week now, and I am very much overdue paying rent. Thankfully, Antonio seems to be very understanding and has not been pushy about it. Anyway, Gloria was very nice and dropped me off at the Post Office since it was snowing. Though it took a good 20 minutes, I got the money! Hopefully Antonio will be here tonight so I can pay him. Then, I looked at my watch. It was only 12:30! So, like any girl with extra time on her hands, I went shopping. I got some new nail polish, but I also got some tissues, lotion, soap, etc. I also stopped in a little cafe and had some coffee and a pastry. I will never, ever get sick of European coffee! 

These last couple of weeks have been fairly uneventful, hence the lack of blog posts. But everything is still going well. This week, we have Wednesday and Thursday off for national holidays. I'm all about that! We are hoping to visit Salamanca on Wednesday--if the weather is decent. It looks like it's supposed to be a little nicer than it will be in Avila, so I'm all about leaving and visiting another city! The 4th graders are precious. I think so far they are my favorite group--though the first graders are a very, very close second. The thing I really like about the 4th grade group is they aren't as scared to try to speak English. In the other grades, they were very scared, and if they had the teeniest bit of doubt about what they wanted to say, they defaulted to Spanish. Which is okay, but it's so exciting to hear kids really trying their hardest to talk to you in English! I taught them a lesson entirely in Spanish one day, and I think it bonded us a little bit because we discussed how just like they are learning English and have trouble with it, I am still working on my Spanish and have problems sometimes too. Next week I'll move on to 5th grade, then 6th grade, and then I'm done! It's really hard to believe that I only really have about 3 weeks left. My last day at the school is May 22nd, and Leslie and I are going to do some more traveling after. We leave the 23rd for Dublin! We are incredibly excited. After spending about 4 nights in Dublin, we'll fly to London and spend about 4 nights there. I am very, very excited to travel some more. Then I fly back to the States on June 5th. This whole journey has been completely insane, and I can't believe that I have such a short time left!! 
Well, lunch will be soon and then I intend on taking a siesta today for sure. I'm exhausted!
<3

Awkward Moments, Laughs, and Attitude Changes

I've been having a rough time lately. I have been missing home this last week, and even though there have been some really fun times, my attitude has been less than acceptable. I think today gave me the attitude change that I desperately needed.

The first thing that is necessary to understand for the coming story to make sense is my Headmaster, Javier. He has the sweetest heart and clearly means well, but he says things sometimes that make everyone feel...awkward. haha He speaks little to no English and he speaks VERY fast; I'm constantly asking him to slow down and repeat, but he gets so excited about whatever he's talking about that slowing down never seems to happen. Quick story about Javier: the day after the terrifying bombings at the Boston Marathon, he came up to me on the playground, asked how I was doing, the usual. But then he said (in Spanish of course), "I'm sorry to hear about the bombs in Boston. How terribly sad, no?" I nodded and he leaned closer and said "Do you know what we call bastards like that here in Spain?" (Of course him using the word "bastards" threw me off a bit but it gets better.) I shook my head and he leaned ever closer, and in the scratchiest, roughest voice he could muster he said, "Hijos de puta." This phrase literally means "sons of a bitch." The other teachers just nodded their heads in agreement and I'm not entirely sure why that conversation made me feel better about everything, but it did. As comical as it was, now that I look back on it, at the time, I felt happy that there were actually people from Europe that were backing the USA. I've had a lot of people here tell me all about their opinions about the American people, and let me tell you, we are not good people according to a lot of Europeans. (And that's being nice.)

So--fast forward to today (Wednesday). We had a staff meeting that lasted until around 2:45, then the teachers said they were going out to lunch and invited me. I was happy to tag along--it beat eating at the Residencia! We drove about 10 minutes out into the countryside--it was absolutely beautiful. The last couple of days here have been perfect--in the 70s (Fahrenheit, of course. That means its been close to 30 Celsius) and clear and sunny. In retrospect, I should have gotten out my camera and taken pictures while we were driving, but I didn't want to be "that girl." haha We arrived at the restaurant and proceeded to begin our million course meal. The whole meal is a traditional Spanish dish called "cocida." It started with a bread soup, which was delicious, followed by another soup. This second soup tasted like it was in a type of chicken broth, and it had super skinny noodles. I really liked this soup! Then, we were brought a mixture of vegetables (mostly cabbage, I believe) and spices and garbanzo beans that were cooked with potatoes and carrots. Madre mia--it was SO GOOD!! I have never in my life liked cabbage or garbanzo beans, but this was so tasty. Then, they brought out a platter of various meats. This is where I got a little...nervous. I could tell what most of it was--chorizo (which I like well enough), blood sausage (yes, that means sausage that has been cooked in blood...I couldn't bring myself to eat it), pig ears (also couldn't bring myself to eat it--all I could think of was the pig ear dog treats we used to get Gracie), almost raw meat (I ate a bit of it before feeling a bit queasy, so I had to stop), and another kind of meat that is still a mystery to me (I swear I heard the word "testiculos" being thrown around, but that could have been my imagination). Along with this assortment of meat was little squares of fat. Yes, plain fat. Most of the teachers cut the fat up and put it on their bread; I tried it, but it did not taste good to me. Also important to note: bottles of wine are continuously being brought to the table and even though I continued to say that I had had enough wine, I was told that I was silly and needed to drink more. I went through almost 4 glasses before I think the teacher next to me (Ines, I love her) saw the "I'm starting to feel a little dizzy" look in my eyes and made the gym teacher (Antonio) stop giving me wine. haha! We were not done after the meat, though, oh no. The waiter came out and gave the list of desserts. I, of course, knew what none of them were, but I heard something with "cream" in it, so I thought that was probably what I wanted. But, alas, before the waiter could get around to me, the Headmaster (oh, Javier) said something to the waiter and pointed to me. He then leaned to the gym teacher (Antonio) and said something very quickly in Spanish. Antonio then looked at me and said "Javier has ordered your dessert for you. He thinks you will like 'leche frite' the best." I was like...alrighty then. Leche frite is fried milk. I was a little nervous for it, a bit jealous at everyone else who ordered the ice cream-sounding dish. ha! Then, Javier said something to everyone extremely quickly in Spanish and the table burst out laughing. They were all looking at me when they were laughing! I didn't know what to do! Javier kept repeating this one word over and over but I couldn't understand what he was saying. Finally, Ines (bless her, again and again haha) leaned over and whispered, "Taylor, do you know what the word aphrodisiac means?" It took me a moment to process what she said, but when it hit me, I could feel my face turn the brightest red. I nodded my head and she continued, "Javier is proud because he has ordered you the best aphrodisiac dessert in Spain." Everyone started laughing again and I just couldn't help but laugh too! I was highly embarrassed, but what else could I do? Javier was trying to be nice, I think. I just rolled my eyes as he cheesed it up and continued to repeat how proud he was of himself. It was a moment I will never forget. Before the dessert was actually brought out, a platter with very large wafers, mini chocolate cookies, and little shot glasses were brought out. Yes, you heard the last part of that correctly. Little shot glasses. There were 3 bottles sitting next to the shot glasses. Javier instantly poured me a glass of whatever the liquid was. (Note: the men were the only ones who filled up the shot glasses; the women insisted on just a tiny bit. But guess who got a whole shot glass with the men? This lucky girl.) Antonio said, "Okay, Taylor, this is good stuff. It is good for your health and digestion. I will show you how to drink it first." He turned towards Javier, they raised their shot glasses, said something in Spanish, and then proceeded to, you guessed it, take the liquid like a shot. I asked what was in the liquid, and Antonio said, "Well, I'm not sure what it is in English, but there is just a little tiny bit of alcohol mixed with the other ingredients. You won't even taste the alcohol." So, being the trusting person I am, I cheered with Javier and Antonio and took my weird-liquid-shot-thing. Antonio lied. I literally thought I was going to DIE. Not being much of a drinker, other than some wine now and then, I suppose that whatever that was could have tasted like it didn't have a lot of alcohol in it to someone who drinks hard liquor reguarly, but my entire body was on fire. I managed to get a smile out and say "Well, it isn't my favorite." I could see some of the teachers that I've become friends with cringe, knowing that I hated it. haha Javier then admitted that it was the worst "spirit juice" he had ever had, and told me to eat a large piece of the wafer. Thankfully, that did the trick; I no longer felt like my body was up in flames! Double thankfully, the desserts were brought out soon after. Leche frite is not my favorite dessert in the world, but it was pretty good. It was a bit rubbery, but it was covered in cinnamon, so that was good. :) After we all had our desserts, the waiter asked for our coffee orders. I was extremely happy to order some cafe con leche after the experience I had! All in all, the lunch was a success, and it took close to 3 hours! I had heard of long, Spanish lunches before, but hadn't ever experienced one. I'm happy to say that now I have :) 

It may not seem like that whole experience would have changed my attitude, but it did. All of those teachers were so gracious; I mean, they always are. Just the fact that they would ask me to come out with them, knowing that my Spanish is weak and they would have to talk slowly and explain the food to me, means more than they will probably ever understand. Not only that, but several of the teachers that I have gotten close to are becoming more and more like family to me. Ines and Laura (the first grade teacher), for example, are so sweet and are constantly reminding me that if I ever need anything to just phone them. I am still missing home terribly, but I know that when I get home, I will miss all of the people here too! I wish I could either bring them home with me or have everyone from home move here. I think that sometimes I've taken for granted their kindness towards me, and I'm going to make the best effort I can to be as appreciative and aware as I can be. After all, I'm not just teaching, I'm teaching to learn, right?

Ah, the Spanish Lifestyle...

The more I'm here, the more I'm loving the lifestyle. It really is something to sit back and relax for a few hours everyday. I'm used to always being on the go; I still am trying to get used to stores being closed between 2 and 5 everyday and being closed at other random times on the weekend. I'm so used to being able to run out quick at midnight to CVS to get some supplies I need for tomorrow's lesson or going straight to Target after school to pick up some snacks for tomorrow's lunch. That is just not possible. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to get used to it, but it's slowly getting easier. I might just like this lifestyle afterall! :)

On Sunday, Leslie, Amy, and I climbed the walls of Avila with my 2nd grade teacher, Vanesa, and her 3-year old, Jimena. In Avila, there is what is called the "old city," which is the part of the town that is still walled-in. You can now pay a fee to climb up the walls and on a clear day, you can see miles and miles of Avila. It was an absolutely perfect day on Sunday, and the view was gorgeous!

Beautiful Avila

Las Murallas (The Walls)

Amy, Leslie, and I on the walls-you can kind of see the mountains in the background!

Looking Down from the walls

 

 

:)

 

 

 I started with the third grade this week. This will be a challenging class! The majority of the students miss a lot of class, are way below grade level, and/or have other major behavior problems. One of the big controversial topics here, it seems, is the way to handle the Gypsies. Although I don't know much about the Gypsy culture, the general attitude towards this group of people seems negative. The children don't often show up to school and are usually two or three grade levels below where they should be. There is one girl in the third grade who is still working on understanding how to properly hold a pencil. The third grade teachers are clearly stressed out and spend most of their time yelling and trying to get students to just sit down and be quiet. There is hardly enough time to work on academics! And when they do finally get the chance to work on actual school work, the students have a really hard time understanding it. I'm sitting here blankly staring into the Science and English textbooks, completely unsure what I should do for tomorrow. It seems important that I continue teaching from the textbook instead of doing my own thing, like I did in first and second grade, and though I am happy to finally have some guidance, thinking about all the different types of students that I need to cater to is literally making my head spin. For all of the complaining that I have done about the American education system, I'm beginning to think that we're doing okay, especially when it comes to identifying problems and intervening. Do we always do it right? Absolutely not. But at least we're doing it. Here, students are simply expected to all be the same: come to school with textbooks and supplies, sit down, listen, and do the work. I can see that the teacher I'm working with is frustrated and I hope that I don't end the week wanting to pull my hair out. We'll see how it all goes!