Helloooooooooo everyone!!!
Oh my God I am being soooo bad at this! I realised that I
haven’t written anything about my Year Abroad since the post talking about
moving here, and that’s almost two months ago!! However, I’m not too sure what
I’ll be writing about, so let’s see how it goes…
Life in the madhouse (also known as Spain) continues as per
usual. Work is absolutely brilliant! I love being a Language Assistant… there
is something about connecting with young students (who are not that distant
from me age-wise!) that creates some kind of complicity and makes lessons ever
so fun! I love the fact that, as soon as I walk into the school, students start
shouting my name and asking general things about life, I’ve never been so
popular before! It’s good to see that I’m doing something right.
Life in the school is so chilled out: the teachers are
amazing, so helpful and so kind! We always speak in Spanish (hard at the
beginning, but I’m getting there!) and it’s good to have those small social
moments in the staff room just talking about everything and anything. It makes
me feel appreciated and part of the team! While normally they already have
something in mind for me to do with the kids, lately the situation has changed.
Using Christmas as an excuse, they asked me if I could prepare something myself
for the lessons. Nervous is an understatement! Being the first time I had to do
something like this, I wanted it to be perfect and so spent HOURS looking up
material online and also trying to create my own resources. Having done this
for a week now, I can say it has been a SUCCESS and the kids are loving it! So
I’ll be repeating it for another two weeks now… ;)
I’ve also joined a music group, formed by a fellow teacher
and three students. It is based on “directed improvisation”, where each
instrument improvises within a frame of already given instructions. It’s so fun
I can’t even describe it to you! I’m so glad I got to play the piano again, I
was seriously missing it…
Outside of school, a few things have happened. On the
tourism side, I’ve seen quite a lot of Madrid! People who know me know that my
dream place to live is a cottage in a countryside village with the local
church, pub, shop, etc. in walking distance, and also a lot of green, so cities
aren’t really my thing. However, I could definitely live in Madrid! It’s
absolutely beautiful: it’s got everything a capital city should have (so social
life, monuments, transport, and whatever you can think of) however it is
blended with the Spanish chilled out way of life. The result is an incredibly
lively city, but which leaves you alone if you want some peace and quiet! Also,
it’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cheap! And, as a student, that’s very nice…
Other than Madrid, I’ve also been down to Alicante so see my
besties Katy and Francesca, accompanied by Georgia (she’s in Santander) and
Gemma (who’s in Madrid). It was so good to have this reunion! We visited the
city, we went to the beach, we ate (a lot!), and just behaved like absolute
idiots for the entire weekend! I miss these people so much it was amazing to
see them! A couple of weeks later, another good LCS pal (Louise) came to visit
all the way up from Albacete, and so we managed to do a lot of tourism (and,
again, eating) in the capital together! And then, the following week, Francesca came up and Georgia came down, and part of the Alicante quintet was formed
once again in Madrid! I had so much fun during those two weeks…
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| The best people in the world! |
In other news, Christmas has now started in Spain too. However
forget those over-the-top Blackpool-lights-on-your-roof kind of situations you
see in the UK: here everything is low-key, not over the top at all, some things
nice and some not that much. Here are some examples of what I’m talking about…
However, I was wrong. The other day I turned a corner in the
city centre and this is what I saw:
Ladies and gentlemen, this is mental! (Also, what is it with
Christmas and penguins this year?!?)
Also, being December, temperatures are slowly but steadily
falling. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still warm: while everyone in the metro has
got a duvet wrapped around their necks, I still go round with a light jacket,
not buttoned up. Today was the first day I was a bit chilly, and thought about
doing up some of those buttons…
Anyway, I’m not too sure what else to say. I’ve started
decorating my room for Christmas (a huge thank you to Poundland for opening a
branch just down my street right on my year abroad!), however it is not
finished. I’m still deciding what to add next… any ideas?
I’ve also enjoyed
writing Christmas cards while listening to Carols and sipping a boiling hot
tea. Oh how I love this time of the year! Also a big shout out to Pentatonix,
who became my new obsession. They’re this a cappella group from the States, and
they’re so good I want to cry and laugh at the same time! They’re currently on
repeat on my Spotify… Everyone please buy their album, you'd enjoy it!
I think that’s it for now! I’ll add some photos which might
describe what I didn’t say in the text above. See you soon lovelies!!!
xx
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| Alicante |
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| Alicante |
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| Palacio Real de Aranjuez |
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