Mi Vuelto a Sevilla

New Year's Resolution #1: To do more blog entries (atleast once a week)!!

Since my last entry I have only traveled to one place but logged quite a bit of plane hours. I traveled back to the good ol' U S of A for the holidays, namely Lawrence, Kansas. It was wonderful to see friends and family but I found myself missing my new "home", Sevilla... I missed seeing my favorite students, I missed my companeras del piso (roomies), I missed the beautiful paseos (walks) and sights of Sevilla and I missed speaking and hearing Andalucian spanish (vale, vale, vale ... ok, ok. ok).

I have fallen back into the swing of things after about two weeks of being here. The weather has been absolutely amazing and orange trees are sprouting up everywhere... it is nearly impossible to walk somewhere without being able to pick an orange off a nearby tree. I still walk down the streets sometimes and think to myself: I actually live here??!!

School is going well... it took me a few days at work to fully understand the students again. When they speak in their rapid Andalucian Spanish sometimes the only thing I pick up on is profe (short for profesora). My bilingual coordinator, Maria Jose has given the three of us (language assistants) a project: to create lessons plans & a book for a full year of 4th year science. Although it is a daunting task, and one I am not quite sure should be done by students fresh out of college, I am glad that we are going to be accomplishing something concrete that they will remember us by.

One of my favorite students is Lucia( I know, I know teachers aren't supposed to have favorites but I can't help it). She is a third grade student in my tercer ano clase de conocimiento de miedo ( third grade science class). She always greets me with a beso (kiss) on the cheek (customary in Spain), and a huge hug while saying "hello Lawrence" (she can't prounce my name correctly). Her dedication and enthusiasm for learning English make me so grateful for this opportunity. Another group of students from one of my classes in which I teach small groups who are at a lower level of English instill those same feelings in me about teaching English. They are so excited each week I come in to teach... Profe, I like oranges. Do you like oranges? Profe, do you like betis or sevilla (the two soccer teams of sevilla)? One boy actually kept giving me high fives and I told him that in the states we "pound it" or "blow it up". He proceeded in teaching me a minute long handshake which I learned and do with a number of kids in my class.

I am now giving six private tutoring lessons a week (three different students twice a week): a 6 year old boy, a 31 year old woman and a 7 year old girl. The little boy Carlos, is adorable and his 3 year old brother, Andres often sits in during classes. I really enjoy giving classes to him and it is also an opportunity to practice my Spanish because his family doesn't speak any English. As is custom in Spain, his mother always offers me a merienda (snack) and something to drink after class while we visit. It is wonderful to have met such a welcoming family (since I never lived with a senora my previous time in Spain) and I look forward to spending more time with them.

Hasta luego (until next time). Besos