Hola!
I had my first day of class yesterday, and it went pretty well. This week we will be learning some Macedonian to better understand what it´s like to learn a foreign language (like I didn´t know what that was like already...). I also picked up the alphabet fairly quickly, and we made name tags for ourselves in Macedonian. There´s a pretty diverse group of people in my class (including another ling major yay!), so it should be a pretty interesting four weeks.
My teaching practice for the first two weeks is at night after class, which means I have mornings free for for a while to do some touring around and study. Technically, since I don´t have to be at my TESOL class until almost 2 pm, I can sleep in and relax in the mornings. Tomorrow I will probably be palnning in the morning, as I will be teaching in the evening. My first clas is a Beginner English class. The people we teach sign up for a month´s worth of classes here at the school, it`s only like 60 Euro something, and they know we are teachers in training, but they still get lots of English education in the mean-time.
This morning I went to La Pedrera, which was amazing. They have all sorts of models set up to show the design, as well as an apartment that was pretty neat to walk through. I got some great pictures of the terrace, and some amazing views of the city from there. Tomorrow, I am thinking about going to a cafe near Sagrada Familia just for a snack afte I finish up teaching. I hear it´s great lit up at night, and I don´t think I really need to go inside, since it`s pretty touristy. There is also a Chocolate Museum which I`ll visit Thursday morning as I tour around more of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.
So far, I have managed to avoid getting lost anywhere. My tactic is to plan out my trips and check the maps before I leave my flat, and that has been working pretty well. The area around the school is very easy to navigate. The only thing about the streets in Spain, is that the street names aren´t on sign posts, but on buildings on the corner, so they´re a little hard to see at first. The schools is only 3 metro stops from my flat, and a few blocks from Passieg de Gracia (so if I feel like buying some Armani or Chanel right before class, I can....). There´s also some really good little cafes nearby. Yesterday I picked up lunch in one, and ate a "bocate con bacon", which is just some really nice fresh bread, what I think is crushed up tomato that gets spread on every sandwhich every where in Spain, and some ham and bacon. Needless to say, it was incredibly yummy. I also indulged in my default drink here which is cafe con leche. Served with sugar, it´s just simple coffee and milk, but perfect.
I´m glad I get to finally use my Spanish, although, if I didn´t know any I probably wouldn´t need it since Barcelona is such an international city. Still, it´s nice to improve at least my Spanish listening skills, and I´ve been able to use my Spanish in all restaurants, etc so far. I am staying with two other people in a flat. One of them used to work at the school I am taking my course through and usually has someone from the course stay with her each month, and the other person is an Irish guy who works at HP. They both keep everything super tidy, so that´s a nice change, and also necessary given the space we have. My room is fairly small, but it´s not like I have that much stuff, so it works. I have my own desk in there to study, and the living room is pretty nice to lounge around in.
Well, I think that´s a pretty good update for now. I`ll keep you posted on how teaching goes tomorrow!
