Another week, another post

I'm actually remembering to do this blog thing. Yay for me. I am currently patting my back. And typing. Wow am I talented.

Monday the 6th- No classes mondays (ever, woohoo!). I went all the way across the city (it took an hour, at he least) to the police station. Why? I'm not in trouble, so don't worry... at least not yet :) Anyway, I had to go there to get my national ID card. However, when I got there, there was a line of between 100 and 200 people. I promptly turned around and headed home... I decided I would try again som other time, maybe even try to get an appointment if possible.

Tuesday- First day of teaching English! So, I started heading to the school. Slight rain, not too bad. However, it soon started pouring... and I was apparently the only person in Valencia without an umbrella. Anyway, I got to the school (after walking down the wrong side of the street for a bit looking for it) and wandered around until I found a teacher to show me where I was supposed to go. So here is how things work. Tuesdays I have 2 classes, Wednesday only 1. In each class, there are 30 students and two regular teachers. Half the class goes with each teacher. I alternate teachers each week, and work with two students at a time. The first class was alright, but I had no clue what to do or what level the kid's English was at. I had them practice past tense... they weren't too enthused. Next class was better... I only spent a few minutes with a lesson, and the rest of the time I let the kids ask me questions. Some of the kids thought I was really "chulo" or cool... but they told me I was "Very good" with thumbs up. After classes, I had to go the the university for my own classes.

Wednesday- Second day of English classes, although I only had one class. This class got a little uot of hand. The first two classes, I was in an empty room or the hallway alone with the two students. This time, I was stil working in pairs... except in the classroom, where all of the students were. They were supposed to come in pairs, but they started arguing about who got to talk to me next... and then some students didn't want to leave and wanted to keep asking me questions. Although the class was rowdy, I think I am going to enjoy this class the most... because they seem to enjoy me the most.

Thursday- Classes. I really don't think anything interesting occured (at least nothing memorable enough for me to remember today).

Friday- During the morning I had my first exam all year here. It was in Artificial Intelligence. Not too difficult, except it was in Spanish. I had an hour to do the test and, lo and behold, it took an hour to complete. Friday night was a bit more fun. Two German girls (Kristina and Mädchen, or at least I think that is how she spells her name) came over and cooked dinner in our apartment for about 10 people. Most were French, but there was also a Brazilian girl (Manuela). She was happy that I was there... another person from the Americas. She actually knew where Montana is, too! She lived in CA with her family for awhile when her dad got a job or something there. She had to learn about the States in school, so she remembers where Montana is. The dinner was sauerkraut, sausages, and potatoes. I was a little hungry at the end... it is hard to feed so many people and ensure everyone gets enough. Afterwards, after some people left, we played the game where you put a name of a person on your head and try to guess who's name you have on your head. I was King Kong! I needed a lot of help to figure it out though... I kept thinking I was Lassie!

Saturday- Umm... sorry, but I was a lazy bum. I was supposed to call Jessica Potter to hang out, but I got caught up in literally doing nothing and it was suddenly 11 o'clock at night. I decided to go to bed instead of call Jessica. Sorry Jessica... I will try to be a better friend this week.

Sunday (Today)- Went to church. Talked to my parents. Called my Aunt Kathy (yay). My church is called La Parroquia de la Preciosima Sangre, or the Parish of the Precious Blood (if I wasn't Catholic, I would be scared of such a name). It is a small parish, and I went to the 8 pm mass... there were maybe 20 people there max. But what I like is that during the "Peace giving" the priest is able to go around and shake the hand of every parishoner. And the mass still only lasts 45 minutes. I think my grandpa Doc would like the speed of the service... but not that everything is in Spanish :)

That's all for now (and quite too much for now, if you ask me). Stay tuned next week, for more on the increasingly interesting (albeit currently a bit boring) life of me!