Goodbye February!

Today I was in a good mood going to class. The sun was out and my walk was nice, and I only have 3 classes on Thursdays. After Literature, I had my first day in the elementary school. I signed up to volunteer in the elementary school across the street from the university, and my job is to help teach the little kiddos English. I am in a second grade classroom, which is perfect because that is the age I want to teach! I got there before the class got back from lunch and I was nervous because I didn't really know what I was doing. I stood around in the classroom for about 10 minutes feeling like a creep, until finally the class showed up. The kids ran in and looked up to see me, and without hesitating they all started smiling and crowding around me. They asked my name and introduced themselves. They all wanted to be the one to get to talk to me, which was so adorable. A few of the kids even gave me hugs right away! Some of them read my name tag, so I guess I will be called Samanta Yansen from now on, since that is how they pronounce my name. I'm totally okay with that haha. The teacher, Lourdes, introduced me and had each of the kids say their name and one of their favorites in English. Some are pretty good at English, and some need a bit more help, but they are all adorable. Whenever one of the kids with a name that translates in English (Eduardo=Edward, Maria=Mary, Carlos=Carl (or Chaz, which is how he introduced himself haha)) introduced themselves, the other kids all thought it was hilarious that they had a different name. After this, Lourdes had me take 5 of the kids upstairs to work on English clothing vocabulary. Before I left, one little girl gave me her bracelet to wear :) We went upstairs and I told them a clothing item and had them draw it. Some of the girls weren't as good as Eduardo, so he helped them out. I tried to discourage the Spanish but these kids are very rambunctious and are hard to control! The teachers know this and thankfully don't blame me haha. Also, David's son is in this class and was overjoyed to see me since I am a familiar face. Him and his brother are attending this Spanish school, and they are very young-I can't imagine trying to make friends, adjust to a new country, and not know how to speak to anyone at that age. It's hard enough for me now! haha. Overall, the first day was wonderful and I cannot wait to be back in the classroom. Every time I get an opportunity like this, even in The States, it reminds me how much I want to teach and how much fun I have working with the kids!

Classroom rules (sorry for the glare!)

And as a bonus: pictures of my favorite feral cat outside of the AHA office! 

I asked Silvia if we could have him as a pet, and she said I'm welcome to take him in May when I leave haha.  Dang it!

After the school, I hurried back to the university to go to Silvia's class. Now, there is a Silvia who works for AHA and I love very dearly. And then there is my teacher Silvia. Silvia the teacher, Silv, is awful. I'm sure she's a very nice person, but she absolutely drives me nuts. I can't tell you why cause I'm not sure myself. But she talks in a very low, slow voice and it's draining trying to pay attention to her. Usually I don't and just go on Facebook (only classroom that I get wifi in!), but I've been trying harder lately because I don't want a terrible grade and Emily sits next to me and is a very good student, so I feel like I should maybe get on her level haha. Anyways, I made it through that class, went to AHA to have my class with David, and then went home. I stopped at the Chino to look around, and found some stuff I plan on buying before I leave. I like looking in the Chinos cause they're super cheap and always have random stuff. I got home after a nice sunny walk, and then Chloe messaged me saying the ticket for the train for Spring Break that I have is for February 27th instead of March 27th. This made me really not happy. I checked and she was definitely right, and since it's past Feb 27th I was sure I was going to have to pay for another ticket. I emailed Reme and asked her to come with us to talk to the Train lady, and she said she would. Reme also works for AHA and only speaks Spanish, but is a great lady. She is always making jokes and giving us a hard time, but is totally a sweetheart. Chloe and I met her at the train station and she talked the lady into giving us new tickets without paying a dime! I owe her big time and I think I'm going to pick up a pastry or something for her on Monday to tell her thank you! It was 9:00 and she didn't have to give up her night to do that for us!

Also at the train station, I was outside looking for Laura when Chloe told me to come back in cause they needed me. I went back and Reme asked me to translate for another customer who was obviously frustrated because he didn't speak Spanish. I asked if he spoke English and he said a bit, and then said he just needed to go to the bus station. I told him to walk down the street and he'd run into it, and he was so thankful! I know I didn't really have to translate anything, so I shouldn't be so excited about this, but it made me so excited that Reme thought I was good enough at Spanish to be able to translate. My biggest problem is not being able to speak well, but to get the confidence to speak fluently. When I'm around people I know I am much more confident and therefore better, but I know I could be a lot better around strangers if I could just let down my guard and my need to be perfect. This is really frustrating for me, cause I know I am capable but I can't get myself to just dive in. Granted, I have made significant progress since being here and can speak way better than before I left. It's just a work in progress!

When I got home from the train station, Marisa had dinner waiting for me and there was a message from Kay. Kay is one of my good friends from Corvallis and I love her dearly. I was telling her about a recent problem I had with a friend from home, and she sent me the nicest message about how great I was. She always knows how to make someone feel better and I absolutely adore her! I also got some messages from some other friends letting me know that they miss me, and I cannot tell you guys how much this means to me! I have been having a very hard time with friends from home because I feel like I miss everything. I love Spain, but it is easy to feel like you have been forgotten, especially when some of your best friends aren't being the best of friends. Recently, one of my best friends really let me down and I've been struggling with that, as well as just having some friends that haven't been there for me as much as I would have liked them to. However, I have had some friends be absolutely amazing and I thank you guys so much! And after getting multiple messages tonight I feel much better about coming back to The States. Friendships from home are probably the hardest part of studying abroad for me, cause things and people change and there is nothing you can do about it from half a world away. I haven't really been homesick yet, but I do miss American things and my family and friends. So when my friends show me that they miss me too it really means the world to me and makes my life here a lot easier. Thank you friends, you know who you are :)