Recent Highlights of Extremadura

Several of my posts are about traveling to other places, but I have found some pretty fun things to do in Extremadura as well! At the beginning of March, I explored the Roman theater and amphitheater here in Mérida with Doris. Two weekends before that, I went to Badajoz for a couple days with Fanchon - but it was not just any old weekend, it was carnival!

Roman ruins in Mérida

Carnaval is celebrated right before Lent in many Catholic countries. Spain has a few celebrations that are pretty large, such as the Canary Islands and Cadiz; ironically, Badajoz (Extremadura) is not too far behind!? We had a few days off at the end of February for the occasion, so I decided to take advantage of what was close to home instead of traveling far. Carnaval consists of parades, dressing up in costumes, and having a good time with friends.

Nikki and Elliot's terrace gave us the perfect view for the parade - can you see it behind us?

For the first half of the weekend, I stayed in Mérida. Last fall/winter markets had come to Mérida for the Medieval festival and for Christmas, and they were back again for carnival! I explored the markets on Saturday with my English friend Jess. While it was fun to "window shop" and admire all the interesting jewelry, I refrained from purchasing anything other than a crepe for lunch. That night I dressed up as a pirate and met up with another friend, Doris, and a few of her Spanish friends. It was really fun to see everyone in costume. Some people got really creative with a certain character or theme, and others just went crazy with ridiculous outfits, bright colors, and wigs.

A few of the market stands in Mérida, plus pony rides for the kids 

Sunday morning Fanchon and I headed to Badajoz for a couple days. After stopping for lunch, the rest of the day was spent watching the parade - it was 6 hours long!! It was really impressive - the costumes were intricate, the groups changed formation while marching down the street, and the music was good. We watched most of the parade from our friends' terrace, which was more relaxing than sitting/standing along the road for so long, and we were able to see more of the group at the same time. We also saw the first few groups up close as we were heading over to their place. I am glad we saw it both ways and definitely think the bird's eye view is best!

Monday night tons of people went out because Tuesday was a day off for most schools and businesses. Everyone, and I do mean absolutely everyone, was dressed up in a costume! There are three main plazas in the center of Badajoz, and each of them was filled with groups of friends mingling (or if you've been to Spain, think of a giant botellón). I was able to meet up with my travel buddy Taylor (her and I have been on one trip together all ready, and we have two more coming up this spring), in addition to the friends that I went with.

With friends during carnival - looks more like we're having a late Halloween celebration!

The Roman ruins are really impressive! The Anfiteatro was built in 8 A.C. to hold gladiator fights for up to 15,000 spectators. A few years later the Teatro Romano was built right next to it, and its audience can hold up to 3,000 people. Although slightly deteriorated, it is still usable and holds performances during Mérida's annual fair each September. I think it is incredible how intact both of these monuments still are. 

Me and Doris in the amphitheater 

Teatro Romano 

Sitting in the stands of the Roman theater 

The Older Kids

Just finished up my third week at the secondary school. I am enjoying both schools, but what's funny is that the things I like about the IES (Instituto de Educación Secondaria) are completely different than the reasons I like the CEIP (Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria)! Here are my favorite things about the IES:

Random Photo #1 (I still wanted to add some pictures even though I do not have any at the school yet)- Mérida, Spain.
I walk past this spot on the way to work each day.

The younger grades (11-13 yrs old)- These classes are the most enthusiastic & willing to participate. They have large class sizes (close to 30 students, where as 14-18 year olds have about 15 students). Typically I prefer smaller classes, but in this situation it makes it easier to plan games and activities. Most of the students who are not as excited to participate in the younger grades just have an I-am-embarrassed-about-my-English attitude, but in the older grades the apathetic ones have an I-just-do-not-care attitude. I much prefer the first & these ones still get fairly excited about me helping them one-on-one. Middle school is the age I have had the least experience with back in the States, but I am liking this age group a lot more than I expected (at least in this setting).

Random Photo #2- Roman Art Museum, Mérida, Spain. We visited the museum
during one of our first weekends in Spain (entry is free on Saturdays & Sundays!)

Working with 4 different teachers- Originally I did not think this would be ideal & it did make the 1st week a bit confusing/difficult. However, I am now enjoying their different teaching styles (variety is the spice of life!). It's nice that I only have to plan activities for some of the classes; in others, the cooperating teacher just shows me the lesson plan the day of & lets me take over some activities. If I had to plan them all, it would get tiring, but if they were all the second option, I would get bored. Planning for these classes is a bit different than lesson planning back home because I only see each class once every 2 weeks. This makes it hard to build on what they know and what they are currently studying. The other teachers wanted it this way to give the students a "break" from the normal English class to keep the subject fun and exciting for the kids (and to give themselves a "break" by telling me "consider this your hour with the students...")

Random Photo #3- This is from the Auxiliar pot luck I mentioned a while back.

The teachers- They are so friendly and welcoming! And it is not only the English instructors. Basically anyone I end up beside in the teachers lounge or computer room will start up a conversation with me (one-on-one Spanish is so much more enjoyable than the rapid-fire 10 person discussions in the teachers lounge at the CEIP (though I do love the teachers there too)). The teachers have offered to help me with even the littlest things such as forgetting my umbrella or not knowing where I should go the first time my cooperating teacher was absent sick.

Random Photo #4- Lagos, Portugal. 

My schedule- In the last post I mentioned how good it was, right? Well guess what, it got better! My second week at the IES, the instructor I work with on Thursdays told me she thought they made my schedule in a rush & it would be better for me if I could have Thurs-Fri off in a row. So she switched three classes to Tues & the fourth to Mon. This does mean I start school at 8:30 am Mon-Wed, but I have the rest of the week to sleep in.

Random Photo #5- Venice, Italy. I got to go here for our first long weekend at the end of October!
It was so beautiful, I will share more from that trip soon!

Yesterday morning went especially well! First period was with the 16 year olds and I was able to get everyone to participate. The activities I did were not my favorite, but my main goal was to get everyone involved & now I have a better idea of how to plan for their class in the future. Second period was with a group of 11 year olds. I was pretty excited about the activity I had planned & the cooperating teacher thought it sounded good too. I had them working in groups of 4 which can be risky when you don't know the students, but it turned out to be a success & the teacher even said she planned to do it with some of her other sections. Score! The rest of the day went pretty well too, but it was really the morning that stuck out & got me more excited about working at the IES (:

Almendralejo, Appetition & Agendas

I am nearing the end of another great weekend! It is hard to believe how quickly time is going by- I have already been here for 5 weeks. I took a trip to Almendralejo with Angela for Friday and Saturday. We took a train after finishing up our clases particulares (private English lessons/tutoring). It was my first train ride in Spain! The train station in Mérida is less than 5 minutes from my piso and the prices are comparable to taking a bus, so I am sure it will not be my last! One surprising thing I found out is that the trains almost always run late, which is the complete opposite of buses here- running a couple minutes behind often means the bus will be long gone when you walk up.

Most of our group from Friday night :)

We stayed with Sophie, an auxiliar from England, for the weekend. I had met her at orientation, so it was fun to catch up again. On Friday night she organized a get-together with the other auxiliares in town. We went for drinks and tapas at 2 different places then headed out to a bar. On Saturday a few of us girls went shopping. I found a jacket that will be perfect for in-between weather (too chilly for just a light cardigan, but not cold enough for a wool coat). I also bought a few scarves for 2€ each! ...speaking of these things, it is starting to cool down here. Considering summer stuck around until Oct 20th I know I cannot complain that it is over, but I will say that it still took me by surprise. It almost seemed like summer would last forever!

Exploring Almendralejo

This afternoon Angela's host family had me over for lunch. A few others from our church were there as well, so it was a pretty large group. The meal consisted of a Columbian salad, the Spanish equivalent of pork chops, 2 kinds of potatoes (some with herbs in a buttery garlic sauce & the others with ham in a creamier sauce), fresh bread, a rich raspberry custard (that's probably not the right word, but I'm not sure how else to describe it), assorted fresh fruit, and coffee. Everything was so good, and needless to say I was very full when I left. They slowed down their Spanish so we could understand them better, which was very nice. As long as I remained focused, I could understand a lot, but when my concentration slipped, I had to have Angela fill me in. I actually understood more towards the end of the lunch because during the beginning I kept forgetting to concentrate on the Spanish instead of just relax. ...Angela and I are planning to cook them a Thanksgiving meal, which I am really looking forward to doing. It probably will not be on Thanksgiving Day, but sometime that week. If anyone has Spanish-ingredient-friendly holiday recipes, please share!

I did not take a picture of our meal, but here's a similar version of our main dishes.

Since I have only posted about the primary school, you are probably wondering how the secondary is going, but to be honest, I am still figuring that out! Here's a breakdown of how my first week at the secondary school went:
Day 1- Met my tutor, the principal, and a few other teachers.
Day 2- Attended an English department meeting. This was when & where my schedule was made. I do not have any Tuesday afternoon classes, so I was able to go home after the meeting. I will be working with 4 different English teachers, and I will only be seeing each class one time per week.
Day 3- School holiday, no classes.
Day 4- This would have been my first and only real day at the school. However, I ended up being pretty sick so I was not there for very long.
Day 5- I have Fridays off every week, so this does not really count towards my work-week.
Tomorrow starts week 2 there, so I will be getting a better feel for it soon.

My secondary school

I only ended up being at the school for an hour the entire week, and I only met once class of students. Students were allowed to ask me questions about myself, but they had to do it in English. They were a bit shy to use their English in front of me, so they only came up with 3 questions:

1- What part of the U.S. are you from?

2- Do you like Spain?

3- Do you like Spanish boys? (haha, I guess that student wasn't so shy...)

I actually came close to having a 4 day weekend, but ended up with a 3 day weekend plus Tuesdays off. Definitely a good schedule, even though I cannot use the extra free day towards traveling :/ For both of my schools, I will start late on Monday & end early on Thursday, so I really can’t complain! Here is a breakdown of things worked out:

	Primary	Secondary
Mon	11:00-2:00	10:20-2:20
Tues	10:00-2:00	---
Wed	11:00-1:15	8:30-2:20
Thurs	9:00-1:15	8:30-12:40

My plans for the upcoming break have changed! Guess where I'll be going for my 5 day weekend?? Other auxiliares, how will you be spending our first long break?

Last Days of "Vacation" Before Working

Apartment searching in Spain was far less intimidating than I expected :) One of my biggest concerns before I got here was finding housing, but it turned out there were TONS of options, so I had nothing to worry about! You can use your other senses to find what you want, which you cannot do for things such as setting up internet or opening a bank account. I talked with a few other auxiliares about housing over the summer. One of them, Jessa, had contacted a realtor about 2 she saw online. I arrived a few days earlier than her, so I was able to look at them and send her pictures. This made things move a bit faster once she arrived. Our favorite had an extra room; shortly after arriving I met Mariana, an auxiliar from Puerto Rico, so she was able to join up with us. Jessa’s boyfriend Patrick is also in Spain this year, so there are 4 of us total. Our piso is in a great location & it’s a nice size. So far the landlord has been on top of taking care of things when we ask, which is a good sign incase other things come up.

This is the view from my bedroom window! 

What’s the next step after moving in to a new apartment in a foreign country? TAKE A VACATION!! Well, not always, but that’s what I did! I wanted to take advantage of having a few days off before work starts, so Mariana and I went to Lagos, Portugal. It was a great time to go to the beach, because it was still sunny everyday. Lagos has the prettiest beaches out of any I have visited, and we explored a new little beach near our hostel each day. We met a few others our age, mainly from Germany, so it was fun to hang out with them a bit too. Our bus ride was a bit long, but it was well worth the trip! On the way down we had to switch buses in Sevilla (there’s not a bus straight to Lagos from my city), and so we got the chance to walk around a bit and eat lunch in a cafe. Mariana and I had both been to Sevilla in the past, so it was fun to reminisce.

Mariana and I in Lagos

The past 2 days we had our orientation in Cáceres, an hour north of Mérida. Most of the information they gave us was pretty basic, but I enjoyed exploring a new city. Cáceres has an old section with lots of beautiful, medieval architecture. Their main plaza is huge and the city as a whole seems like it’d be a fun place to live. (Badajoz, Cáceres, and Mérida are the 3 largest cities in my region of Extremadura.) All of the auxiliares from Extremadura were there; I think there are about 100 of us. There are a lot more in Mérida than I realized: 2 from France, 1 from Puerto Rico, 1 from England, 1 from Canada, and 4 from the US. In addition to my roommates, I spent a lot of time with Fachon (French) and Jess (English), so we spoke in all Spanish because that was our common language. It was neat to use so much Spanish because I speak a lot of English with my roommates, and the 3 of us were at a similar level of Spanish.

I haven't uploaded any Cáceres pictures yet, so here's another picture from Portugal :)

Things here in Spain are moving along pretty smoothly so far. My main frustration has been that I wish my Spanish was better; however, I know that will improve with time. It can be easy to forget how much progress I’ve made with the language when I'm speaking with native speakers. The most beneficial thing I took away from orientation was realizing that my Spanish is decent.

Getting Started

I have only been here a week, but so much has already happened! Getting settled in has been far less overwhelming than I anticipated. Other than a few small rough spots, things are coming together great. Here’s an overview of my first week in Spain:

Traveling: It went well overall, but was a lot of waiting! My plane was delayed almost 5 hours. On the bright side, this allowed me to meet a fellow auxiliar of Extremadura (Anna, near Cáceres) & a girl (Rachel) who is doing a TESOL program in Barcelona. About 2 hrs before our 10:00 pm departure, I thought I overheard those 2 girls talking about teaching English, so I went over & talked with them. All afternoon I had been hoping I'd be able to find another auxiliar on my flight! Having them to hang out with made the time pass by more quickly. After we landed, Anna and I figured out the Aerocity shuttle together. We weren't on the same shuttle, and unfortunately I had to wait quite a bit for mine to arrive, but otherwise it was a pretty smooth process. I got to the bus station just in time for the 2:30 bus, except that it was sold out. And so was the 4:30 bus. BUT I got a ticket for the 6:30 one. This one happened to be an express bus, so it was faster- only 2 stops between Madrid & Badajoz!

Welcome: Two of the auxiliares I had met over the summer, Nikki & Elliot, let me stay with them in Badajoz when I first arrived. It was awesome to see them waiting at the bus station as I pulled in & to have others to show me around and hangout with during my first days back in a foreign county. I cannot imagine how lonely I might have felt if I was in Spain all by myself for those first few days. Their piso is really nice too- it has an awesome, large patio & plenty of space inside.

Mérida: On Saturday, the 3 of us took a day trip to Merida to explore. I though about checking out a piso or two, but most places are only shown on weekdays. It did help to get a feel for the city though. I really like Mérida so far. There are Roman ruins everywhere, which gives it a different feel and appearance than most cities.  There are also more than enough plazas and parks, as well as plenty of stores, cafes, and restaurants. It is a great size too- both in terms of physical size and amount of people (UNLESS it is during siesta). The city is very walkable, and overall you can walk from one place to another more quickly than I anticipated from looking over google maps. However, when you are crossing the river, those bridges are longer than they appear!

Badajoz: On Sunday Nikki and Elliot gave me a tour of Badajoz. We spent a good portion of the day exploring the Alcazaba (an old castle). It also has a larger business atmosphere than Mérida, but there are still several plazas, fountains, and walkways lined with trees. Their city is a little bigger than mine & it’s fun to compare the two. Despite a few differences, I would definitely consider both of our cities to be good placements for the auxiliar program. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, there were randomly fireworks one night, and we had a pretty good view from their terrace!

Settling in: Monday morning I took a bus over to Mérida. Unfortunately, by the time I checked into my hostel, it was already siesta so I was not able to purchase a phone from the store. I wandered around, jotting down numbers of pisos for rent and taking pictures of sites I’d missed on Saturday. In the afternoon I met up with one of the teachers I’ll be working with at the primary school. He told me about Mérida, the school, the students, and answered several questions I had. He spent a few years in London, so his English is very good- we probably spoke about 40% Spanish and 60% English. He showed me around the city a bit and went with me to get my phone. It was awesome that he was there because the particular store I went to wouldn’t accept just a passport & I didn’t have my letter from the Junta de Extremadura with me (that letter is almost as good as gold as I’m setting everything up as a foreigner!) 

As the week has progressed, other auxiliares have been showing up. So far I have met 4 others, some of whom will be my roommates! The past 2 days have been much more enjoyable since I have had fun people to explore the city with. Not that Monday and Tuesday were bad, but there's only so much you can do by yourself before you get bored. I am definitely happy to be back in Spain & I'm very excited about this upcoming year! I will miss everyone back home, but I’m sure the time will go by very fast.

[I wanted to write about the piso search process too, but I’ll save that for another day because this post is already very long. SPOILER ALERT: tomorrow is moving day :) ]