Things Jordan Misses, Part 1

So it's time for a new installment of posts that I would like to call "Things Jordan Misses."

Now living in Spain has provided me with a million little things that I can't get anywhere else in the world: a night out getting tapas, eating jamón by the pound and drinking sangria by the gallon, walking around Madrid and always discovering something new, etc.

However, it would be nearly impossible to live in a foreign country and not miss the small comforts of home.

So here's what I'm currently missing:

No, I'm not missing sitting in my Dad's lap and no, I'm not missing playing with my toy train set. Focus more on the background.

I'm missing having indoor heating.

Many of you may not realize, but a lot of older apartments in Spain (and I think I live in one that was built in the stone age) were never fitted with indoor heat and air. This means no air conditioning in the summer and no heating in the winter. And now that it's starting to get colder, this guy is REALLY starting to miss having some heating.

And maybe some of you think that I'm whining. Or perhaps that I need to suck it up. But getting out of bed in the morning and setting my feet on the cold tile floor of my bedroom makes me feel like I'm living in this:

Oh, and I don't exaggerate. This is serious. I think a penguin could live and function happily in my bedroom.

And maybe it's that I'm spoiled. But I miss the days where I could wake up, be ever-so-slightly uncomfortable with the temperature and walk to the thermostat and crank it up or down until my heart was content and my feet weren't popsicles.

So let this post be my own personal tribute to indoor heating. Oh, how I miss you and the way you kept me nice and toasty and warm in my bed.

So for now, here's a big, warm hug from the North Pole Madrid, Spain.

I'm Famous!

But seriously, though. I'm famous.

It all started last week when the headmaster of my school came to me and told me that a radio show would be coming into one of my classes the very next day. No other information. Just that some sort of radio program would be there at some point during the day.

Well, come to find out it was Radio Nacional de España, which is equivalent to NPR in the US or maybe BBV Radio in the UK. Basically, it was a big deal. A lot bigger deal than what I was expecting.

So finally I get some details on the situation. The radio host is going to come into one of my 1st grade science classes and kind of listen in on the class and see what actually goes on in a bilingual school. They were doing a show on bilingual education in Spain, which is becoming more and more popular and of all the classes in all the schools in the country, they picked mine. Which was pretty dang cool.

So they tell me to just do a normal class and don't do anything differently from what I would normally do in class. No problem there. However, right as class is about to start and the radio host lady is setting up, in walks my class' home room teacher, the director of English programs in the school, the headmaster from primary school, the headmaster for the entire school, the director of UCETAM (the association that our school is a part of...a big deal that he is there), the director of all Gredos San Diego schools (the school system that my school is a part of), and various other big wigs from Madrid.

So at that point, the nervous level went from around 4 or 5 to 150.

So I start class, and I'm hoping and praying that the kids remember all of the vocab that we've gone over and that they'll do me proud. I had a lot of eyes on me and I think all of them were thinking the same thing. I mean, this show is going to be broadcast over the entire country of Spain. They were hoping that this guy from Oklahoma had been doing his job and would make the schools look good.

So as I'm teaching, the radio host continually requests for me to do special things. Like, as I'm going over vocabulary with the kids, she comes and whispers in my ear "Can you ask a question and have the entire class answer all together?" Which is no small feat. Coordinating 30 6 and 7 year olds to do something all together? Near impossible. But it magically worked out.

Then, "Can you have them sing a song in English?" Okay. I've only been teaching them for nearly two weeks. I haven't taught any songs yet. So I had to think of some songs that I've heard them sing in their pre-school classes and came up with "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and I had to pray that they remembered it from the year before. And once again, my little angels didn't disappoint.

So it went on that way for the entire class and my little kids, bless them, performed like pros.

And then it was over.

Or so I thought.

So then, as I'm exiting the class, the radio host comes to me and tells me that she now wants to interview me to add to the program (all in Spanish, of course). Now let me just tell you, I'm pretty confident in my Spanish skills. I still don't think I'm fluent, but in my day to day life, I get by without many problems. However, a full-on interview in Spanish that is going to be broadcast to the entire country? Holy crap.

I wish I could tell you I did good. Or that I did bad. But to be honest, I don't remember at all what I said. It was a lot of questions from her and a lot of word vomit from me. The headmaster of my school listened in on the interview and told me that I did "excellent." And by the amount she was beaming, I assumed she was telling the truth. But man oh man, I was so nervous.

I still haven't heard the show yet. Supposedly they're going to send me an mp3 of it, so if you're interested in hearing it, let me know and I'll get you a copy as soon as I get one. And keep your fingers crossed that I don't make an idiot of myself in front of the entire country of Spain.

A Day In The Life

It's amazing how I can have so much free time this time around and yet still get so impossibly behind on updating the blog. I'm trying to get back in the habit of writing on here, but honestly, I have no idea how I did it so much the first time I came here. Maybe it's a good thing, though....like a sign that I actually have friends. haha

So anyway, it's been a busy couple of weeks.

I had told myself that I was going to shoot for updating once a week. Which I still think I can do. However, right around the time that I was going to blog last weekend, I came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat. And I mean it when I say "nasty". I mean, I'm no stranger to throat/lung illnesses. I generally come down with something along the lines of strep every year. Therefore, I can basically be considered an expert on what makes it "bad" or "not so bad." This one qualified as "God awful."

Imagine your tonsils swollen so big that they make your neck bulge out quite noticeably. Imagine the little hangy thing at the back of your neck (whatever the hell it's called) swollen so big that it hangs down into your throat and you have to sleep on your side so that you can breathe at night. Imagine having a 102º fever. Imagine not eating/leaving your bed for nearly 4 days until you can get to the doctor. Gross, right? Yeah, it was awful. And I once again had to maneuver through the Spanish medical system to get all fixed up. But the doctor remembered me from last year (like I said, this sickness is an annual thing) and he told me that my Spanish had really improved. So I guess some good came of it all.

But other than getting massively, horribly sick, I really haven't done much. It has taken me awhile to get adjusted to this new schedule and I've just been trying to get back into a routine. Like I said before, it's not a difficult schedule and it is MUCH better than last year. I really have zero complaints and am really enjoying things. But after a summer of sleeping all day and generally doing nothing, it's been quite the struggle to get back into work mode.

Since I don't really have any good ideas on how to update on my new schedule, I thought I might just run through what typical day is like for me here in Spain. So let's try it:

A Day in the Life of Jordan

7:00 am - Wake up to the gentle sounds of "Ave Maria," which is conveniently one of the ringtones on my phone.

7:01 to 7:50 am - Hit snooze three or four times, jump out of bed when I realize I'm going to be late, have a quick shower and run out the door.

7:50 am - Catch the metro and start my hour-long commute to work.

8:30 am - Switch from the metro to the bus.

9:00 to 9:45 am - Arrive at school and start my first class of the day. Today it was 1st grade science. Generally spend most of the class getting my little 6 and 7 year olds to wake up and pay attention. Spend about 5 to 10 minutes of actual teaching.

9:45 to 10:30 am - Run to my next class (unfortunately in Spain the teacher's don't have home rooms. The kids stay in one class all day and the teachers have to run from class to class. It's a weird system. Don't get me started.) which today was another class of 1st grade science. Spend time calming the kids down. Get some actual teaching done this time around.

10:30 to 11:00 am - Beautiful, blissful break time that the entire school gets to take. The kids go to the playground and the teachers go have a much-needed coffee and cigarette break.

11:00 to 11:45 am - Class #3 = 1st grade English. Spend 20 to 30 minutes calming the kids down after break time. Tell them for the bazillionth time that they should have gone to the restroom during break time and that they'll have to wait until the end of class.

11:45 am to 12:30 pm - Class #4 = 3rd grade science. Have my lesson plans prepared and ready to go, only to be told by one of the Spanish teachers that I have to "review last weeks lesson because they're going to have a test." Fantastic.

12:30 to 2:30 pm - Time for my 2 hour lunch break. Why the kids need 2 hours for lunch, I'll never know. But it gives all of us teachers another chance to down some more coffee. I try to spend my two hour break planning for classes, but usually get pulled down into the teacher's circle outside, drinking coffee and chatting about the weekend/upcoming breaks.

2:30 to 3:15 pm - Another 1st grade English class. Spend a solid half hour calming the kids down after the 2 hour lunch break. Once again telling them that they should have used the restroom during the break. This 1st grade English class is generally better than the first one because I've already tested things and worked out the kinks in my lesson.

3:15 to 4:00 pm - Another 1st grade science class. Just like above, as my third 1st grade science class of the day, teaching the class is down to an art. I teach all of the necessary things and generally feel good about the class.

4:00 to 4:45 pm - Last class of the day. Another 3rd grade science. And I can't lie, I love my 3rd graders. They're a really good class to end on. It's different from 1st and 2nd grade because I can actually joke around with the 3rd graders a bit and have a bit more fun. And I'm not constantly telling them that they can't go to the bathroom.

5:00 pm - Catch the bus to start the commute back home.

5:30ish - Depending on if the weather is nice or not, I either take the metro (takes about 20-30ish minutes to get home) or I walk from the bus station (takes about an hour). Despite the walk being around an hour, I don't mind. I can put the headphones in and take various routes through Madrid. I'm lucky because my walk home takes me past the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor, and several other cool Madrid locations.

6:00 to 11:00ish - Depending on the day, my afternoon activities can vary quite a bit. Some days I go meet friends for dinner and drinks. Some days I try to get some exercise. Today I spent the afternoon just doing grown-up things: laundry, grocery shopping, etc. Regardless of what I end up doing, it just always feels good to know that I can do whatever I want. No masters to worry about. No papers to write. No exams to study for. It feels good. :)

And now it's just after 11 pm, and that means it's time for me to get ready for bed. As you can see, the days at school are pretty long, so I've got to get plenty of beauty sleep for the kids. (you think I'm joking, but last year a kid told me I had a "fatty face." These kids can be brutal.)

So I hope this wasn't too awfully boring. Next time around I'll tell the story of how I became famous here in Spain. See? I'm always leaving a cliff-hanger and keeping you coming back for more. :)