Colegio Manuel Bartolomé Cossio

Today was my first visit to my school: Colegio Manuel Bartolomé Cossio. I always learned in Spanish class that "colegio" meant the equivalent of high school. In Spain it does not. It actually means primary school. That was kind of a shock for me. "Instituto" is the Spanish word for high school. The school system is divided up a bit differently here than back home. Instead of elementary, middle (junior high) and high (senior high) school they have just two schools. Colegios are basically 1st-6th grade and Institutos are 7th-12th grade. There are also escuelas infantiles for 3-5 year-olds.

Within the colegio there are 3 groupings (cíclos): 1st cíclo is 6-8 year-olds
                                                                          2nd cíclo is 8-10 year-olds
                                                                          3rd cíclo is 10-12 year-olds

I'm not sure what cíclo I'll be working with just yet, but I had a chance to see a classroom of each. They're all adorable!! And have so much energy! And a little over-zealous with their questions! They of course wanted to know my name and where I was from, but they repeatedly asked how old I was and if I had a boyfriend. Too funny! I also got asked what my favorite Spanish food is and if I spoke Spanish. I can never ever not even a little bit let them know I speak Spanish. They will pounce on that, and we'll never get anywhere. I am only allowed to speak English in the classroom and they are only allowed to speak to me in English. I even made them practice my name over and over until it sounded something like "Caralyn", because my name is NOT "Caroline". I will not answer to that.

No one in the entire school knew St. Louis, but they all recognized Missouri. Weird. I blame that on Mark Twain. One mention of Missouri and everyone immediately thought of Tom Sawyer...which is also weird because Mark Twain's most famous book is about Huckleberry Finn...
I honestly had no idea that the works of Mark Twain had made it to Spain. I hope they don't think I live on a raft in the Mississippi River!

The teachers were all very welcoming and eager to show me around. I was a little worried about this because at orientation they scared us into thinking that the teachers would be threatened by us and maybe not use us in the classroom as much as we hoped. They couldn't have been more wrong. They were thrilled to have a native speaker and made it a point to tell their students that they will learn better from us, the auxiliars, than the them, the teachers. I don't think that's necessarily true, but it was nice to know they supported us being there.

I also found out that there are 3 of us that are full-time auxiliars and 1 other who will split their time between our school and another. So we have one auxiliar per cíclo and we will be divided as such. I know this sounds irrelevant, but to me it means this school is organized and they know what they're doing. That is such a blessing!! I'm sure chaos will arise at times, but I'm glad to know that they've done this a time or two and seem to have found a system that works. I've heard the horror stories. I am thankful that will not be the case with me.

And one last thing...I get to take the train to school!! I didn't put 2&2 together before, but I just realized that both the metro station by my apartment and by the school are also cercanías stations. And there's actually another cercanías station much closer to school. How sweet is that?? I had no idea. And my monthly transportation pass works not only with the metro but the buses and cercanías trains as well. Another blessing.

I start on Monday. That's all for now.

~Caralyn

Aranjuez

Yesterday a few of my new Madrid friends and I decided to take a day trip to the city of Aranjuez. It's about 45 minutes outside of Madrid by the Cercanías trains, which meant I took my first train ride! The main train station in Madrid is Atocha, so we met there and off we were.

Cercanías ticket

Aranjuez is in the southern part of the Comunidad Autónoma of Madrid (there's the city of Madrid and the province of Madrid, kinda like New York, NY) where the Tajo and Jarama rivers meet (much like the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in St. Louis!) It's famous for it's Royal Palace (Palacio Real) and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Construction began on the palace in the 16th century and wings were added on up until the 18th century. It was basically used as a summer

home for the Spanish royal family to escape the difficulties of city life. It's good to be king. Aranjuez is also famous for its strawberries, which aren't in season at the moment, so no strawberries for me on this trip. :(

Here are some pictures of our arrival into Aranjuez.

Yesenia, Me and Theresa

Train station of Aranjuez

Ayuntamiento

Pedestrian street

Having fun at the Tourism Office

Entering Plaza de San Antonio

Jump!

Fuente de la Mariblanca (fountain)

And here are some pictures of the Palace and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside.

Can you see Theresa waving? Yup, that's how big this place is!

There was also a Plaza de Toros in Aranjuez:

And lots of beautiful gardens with more fountains around the Palace.

Black Swans!

And that was our trip in a nutshell!

~Caralyn

My Neighborhood (barrio)

Hi all, I don't have much news at the moment so I thought I'd share some pictures of my neighborhood that I took yesterday.

I did have my orientation a few days ago which went more or less smoothly. The presenters took their time through the unimportant stuff and then flew through our legal document information. Of course. And they looked at us like we were the idiots. I did meet some cool people though so hopefully now I have some new travel companions.

I'll keep you posted on where we decide to go first :)

Puerta de Toledo (glorieta = roundabout)

This isn't my school, but my school will be similar (colegio  bilingue)

Chevrolet dealership

Kebabs!!

Yup, that's a Dunkin donuts at a gas station :)

Top of my street

Looking down my street

You never know when you'll need some Betty Crocker!

Prado Ticket

~Caralyn

Qué emoción! Qué incertidumbre!

This day has been a complete turn-around from yesterday. I don't know what it was about yesterday, but there were some major bad energy in the air...or maybe it was in the water. It doesn't matter. All I know is that I was beginning to question my coming here in the first place. It's been very isolating living in a foreign city and only knowing a few people. On top of that I have a lot of free time to kill and unfortunately, it's killing me. I am such a worry-wort. It runs in the family. I have this ability to imagine myself in the worst possible situations and then telling myself that's exactly what's going to happen. It almost never happens, however, so I'm not sure why I do this to myself. Todo salirá bien. It'll all work out. It always does.

Part of my turn-around has come from a pep talk with a good friend and the arrival of an old friend. Unfortunately one doesn't live here and the other won't be here for long, but it's definitely what I needed.

I attempted to get some sheets and towels today but I chose the worst time to go shopping. The siesta stuff still throws me! Ugh. 2:00pm seems like the perfect time to be out running errands and such, and in the US it would be, but not here. So to make better use of my time I headed to the library closest to my house and got a library card (carné bibliotecario). Life is good. I think I'm going to start collecting all these various library cards I've acquired in the last few years. And yes, university IDs totally count!

Carné

Anyway, the woman who got my card up and running couldn't have been more helpful. Even though a line formed behind me, she took the time to show me around. All she had to do was yell at Roberto (Alberto?) to man the desk and we were off. Keep in mind, this library was not very big but she pointed out everything: the dvds, cds, literature section, reference section, computer lab, how to get on the internet if I needed to, the foreign language section (books in English, HOLLA!) and even the magazines. She then explained how everything was organized and gave me a brochure with a list of all the libraries in Madrid I could use and the services they offered. Jackpot. This is one of those moments I wish every American could experience. I was clearly foreign and yet instead of brushing me off (goddamn foreigners speaking that gibberish!) she acted as if she had nothing but time to help me. So wonderful. Definitely helped change my day around. Amazing how a little kindness goes a long way.

(On the flipside, I ALSO wish all Americans could experience rudeness as a foreigner, because we tend to treat foreigners with disdain in our own country and feel as if we are superior or more intelligent in some way. Let me tell you, it is a horrible feeling to be looked down-upon just because you can't express yourself the way you want in a second language...especially when you know you are a smart and well-articulated person in your native language. So, as Ellen says, be kind to one another)

I then spent the evening wandering around the Museo del Prado with Cari. It's free in the evenings during the week so it was the perfect place to walk and talk in air conditioning. The paintings were great too. It was nice to catch up after so long, and the labyrinthine halls of the Prado were just the place. Maybe by the time I leave here I will have a mental map of that place. We got turned around so much!

 

             This chicken likes gin & tonics                                When Plan A just doesn't cut it

The best part of the evening came with the Real Madrid v. Manchester City football game (partido de fútbol). It was part of the Champions League in which all the best teams in Europe compete. It's a big deal here and across Europe. Champions League final = Superbowl, but on an international scale. We found a comfy bar, ordered some tinto de veranos (mix of red wine and lemonade) and let the drama unfold. The first half was nothing special but things heated up in second half with back-to-back goals and then a surprise goal from Ronaldo almost at the very end. Real Madrid 3 -2 Manchester City. Hot damn! I should've brought my bufanda with me. And my jersey. And maybe I should've bought that Real Madrid sheet set...

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/video?vid=7059b9e2-bb83-4813-ac0c-45d0309da7cf&from=foxsports/foxsoccer/videomodule-home

All in all, a good end to what started off as a depressing and mopey day. Thank god for friends...and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Calle de las Huertas

~Caralyn

Address update

I can't believe I'm saying this but I've found an apartment and moved in! I wasn't planning for it to happen so fast, but when life hands you something great, you jump on it. He/she who hesitates is a damn fool: best advice ever. So now I've had a chance to unpack and start making my room my own. Unfortunately, all I have to decorate are my Cardinals pennant and Real Madrid bufanda (scarf). Let the collection of souvenir trinkets begin!

I'm still not feeling 100% in my new home. I think it's going to take a bit to feel cozy. Right now it's just a lot of space (or more space than I thought I would have) and somewhat quiet. The front door looks out onto an inner patio and the window in my bedroom looks out onto a small tree-lined street. As Raelynne said, the trees remind me of Missouri. Since there isn't a lot of vegetation in this city, any greenery is definitely appreciated.

I leave you know with a few pictures I snapped yesterday of my apartment and some other random things around town.

 

                              Tostas!                                                        At La Taberna de Moncloa

Metro ticket!

                                          My room                                                     View from my window

                                   Kitchen

Living room

                                                                        Bathroom

And my new Address is: C/ Ercilla, 9, 4º, 3ª

                                      28005 Madrid

                                      España
Feel free to send me something! :-)

~Caralyn