3 Weeks? Time for a Blag.

I've been in Spain for three weeks now and haven't been very good at updating friends and family on how things are going here. Thus, I have decided to join the blagosphere. My life is just so interesting that I'm now counting on you to come visit my blog or at least set up an RSS feed to get the skinny on my life.

Here's the quick and dirty update:

I'm working as a "formadora de formadores", a teacher of teachers, in a school 35km north of Madrid. It's in the village of Colmenar Viejo, which translates to old apiary. I have my epi-pen at the ready. The school has 500 students total from what is basically 7th grade up to 12th grade. I'm working with the primero de ESO, aka first year of obligatory secondary education, aka 7th graders. There are 46 students in the bilingual section. These students have biology, social studies, technology, and PE in English, as well as an English class that will turn out to be like our English classes at home. There are another 75 or so in the bilingual program. These students have technology and PE in English, as well as an English class that is English as a foreign language. The principal at the school and the bilingual section teachers are amazing people and it will be very fun to work with them. I am co-teaching science and the English section, so I get to use all of my endorsements that I've paid (read: borrowed) lots of money to get. I'm still working out how my role in the technology, PE, and English program classes will work. It's been very interesting to see the different levels of English development in the program classes. Some students look at me like I'm an alien when I say "hello", others can carry on a full conversation. It's going to be a fun challenge.

I'm currently living in the southern part of Madrid (near the Pacifico Metro stop, if anyone wants to look it up). It's a nice neighborhood and a good apartment, but it means a one and a half hour Metro and EMT (bus) ride to school every morning. It's already started seeming shorter, but the 5:45am wake-up time isn't feeling any later. My roommates are two of the other teachers that are here. Both are nice, Christian girls who teach science and went to Seattle U. The other night, Rachel and I made Puerto Rican lasagna (plantain noodles!) and Jen brought home a delicious bottle of wine. I'm currently eating the leftovers. They're good a second time. It can be a pain living with me and eating out with me, since I need bread-free spaces and bread-free foods. They're very accommodating about all that, and Rachel told me very excitedly about some gluten-free peanut butter cookies we're going to make. I'm on board. Jen is working in Meco, a village 35-40km east of Madrid, and Rachel is working in Ciempozuelos, a village 35-40km south of Madrid.

I'm playing ultimate frisbee here, of course. The team is Los Quijotes y Dulcineas, and it's the only team in Madrid. They're trying to grow the sport in the area by hosting free clinics at the colegios (primary schools). I'm going to try to talk the PE teacher into having a unit on ultimate frisbee. He taught for 3 years in an international school in Oakland, so I think he might be game. If he says yes, I'll see if some of the team can come up and help teach kids how to throw and bring discs and all of that. I'm going to my first beach tournament up in Santander next weekend. Apparently Santander's weather is just like Seattle, so I'm packing my rain coat.

That's the quick and dirty, more specific posts to come.