Barcelona, Spain (Click picture for more)

Malaga, Spain (Click photo for more)

Segovia, Spain (Click photo to see more)

Alcala de Henares, Spain (Click photo for more)

Madrid, Spain (Click photo for pictures)

A Normal Day in my Spanish Life

 

Let me start out by saying, that I am indeed still alive.

I wanted to give you all a break down on what a normal (or as close to normal as it gets) day in my life looks like.

So for those of you who don’t know, I’m in Spain to teach (American) English and about American culture (whatever that is). I’m contracted to work a whooping 16 hours a week, which breaks down to 4 hours a day, 4 days a week, leaving me with a 3 day weekend. Don’t worry, we have plenty of breaks and holidays, so I’m never working too hard.

Monday through Thursday I normally wake up about 6:30am, read the papers (online of course), maybe watch a TV show from the other day, have a little breakfast, get ready, and am out the door by 7:40am. Everyday I take the Metro, which always lends itself to providing me some unique experience that forever changes my view on society, and my trip is about 30 minutes to either of my schools. By the time I walk to the building, it’s about 8:15am and I’m generally one of the first teachers to arrive for our 8:30am start time. The 8:30 classes always start late, normally the teacher shows up about 8:40, so this gives me plenty of time to prepare for the day.

At Juana de Castilla, my Monday and Tuesday school, I teach four gym classes, two technology/woodshop classes, one social studies classes, and one biology class, with ages ranging from my first ESO (12 years old) to second ESO (13 years old). All of these classes are taught in English, since Juana de Castilla has a bilingual program. In addition to these classes, all the classes are taught in English with the exception of Spanish (of course), literature, and math. Normally I work here until 2pm, which includes many hours of breaks.

I work at my other school, Las Musas on Wednesday and Thursdays. Las Musas is a non-bilingual school, so I only teach English classes. In Spanish non-bilingual schools, English is compulsory and all students have to have 5 hours a week. With the majority of my classes, I’ll take two groups of 2-3 students down to the library, over the course of a class period, and we’ll just talk. I introduce them to new words or concepts, and also teach them a little bit about American culture. For example, to illustrate typical American food and portion sizes, I showed them this clip:

I actually explained how this clip illustrates a false American stereotype, and told them why Paula Deen is one of the worst things to happen to American culture.

At Las Musas, I tend to teach older kids, from 13-18, and with varying levels of English; some classes we just talk about conversation skills, other classes we talk about American politics, literature, and news articles. I end at this school about 1pm everyday.

After work, I head home and do lunch with a siesta. Normally I don’t nap for my siesta, but I use the next hour or two to just kind of relax, read my kindle, watch a TV program, update my blog, etc. After siesta, I start preparing for tomorrow classes, go grocery shopping, apply to law schools, and any other not so fun stuff I have to do. About 9-10pm, I’ll have dinner (9 is considered a little early for Madrid dinner but I haven’t quite gotten used to eating so late) and I try to cook about 4 times a week and go out for dinner once a week, to save my money.

During the weekends I like to travel (I’m leaving for Barcelona tomorrow after work!), cook larger meals, hang out with friends, and try to enjoy the Madrid nightlife (read morning life since the last few times we wound up being out until about 4am).

I hope you enjoyed my little snapshot of my life in Madrid, be on the lookout for more regular posts. In addition, I’ll be adding some pictures that I’ve taken over my time in Spain.

Day Trip: Segovia, Castile and León, Spain

 

One of my first substantial day trips was to Segovia, a city located in the province of Castile and León. It took about 30 minutes from Madrid to Segovia by high speed train (it travels approx. 200 mph at certain points) and from the train station, it’s about a 15 minute bus ride to the center of Segovia. Segovia is possibly the oldest city I have visited, possibly dating back to 75 BCE, and the oldest part (founded by the Romans) is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Since Romans founded the city hundreds of years ago, it’s no surprise that some of the oldest structures still intact in Segovia were built by the Romans. The Roman aqueduct that separates the new city from the old city. Built between the 1st and 2nd century AD, the aqueduct still streches over 700 yards, which is incredible considering it’s age. My travel companion L and I walked from one to the other, which while not difficult because of length, was somewhat difficult because of the changes in elevation. Needless to say, it was worth it though.

(From upper left, clockwise: A view from center of town, the Alcazar (one end of the aqueduct), the other end of the aqueduct, another view from the center)

One of the next most striking features of Segovia, is the massive Alcazar, a castle built by Spanish royalty in the early 12th century. The Alcazar is now open to the public so we explored the royal chambers and the highest tower, which was previous used as a prison.

Also on the older end of Segovia is the Cathedral. This is a massive complex featuring over a dozen altars, each dedicated to a different, a museum, and a courtyard.

Segovia is an amazing little city to escape the international feel of Madrid and experience something closer to the “real” Spain. Lastly, I leave you with a pine cone wall and a view of the country just beyond the walls of Segovia.