Quinny's Visit!

Hi everyone!

Things have been so busy lately, I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! So there are quite a few things I'd like to update you on...

Quinny's Visit

Way back at the start of February (!), Quinny came out to visit me in Lucena! In a massive stroke of luck, his flight to Malaga coincided with when Alice's flight left, so Bijan, Bridget and I made the journey with Alice to the airport and eagerly awaited him at the Arrivals gate! We then went to a local bar and had some croquetas and a coffee to wake Quinny up (he had already been awake since about 03:50 that morning...!) and then had a lovely stroll along the seafront before hopping back in the car. It was then that I finally had the chance to move my things into my room and get properly unpacked at last! That evening we went out for some delicious tapas at Bar Jardín, where I first tried the local speciality, flamenquines: usually either chicken breast or pork fillet, flattened and stuffed with ham then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried - naughty but delicious! We then called in at La Judería, a local bar that came highly recommended by locals - we weren't disappointed! A huge plate of prawns wrapped in bacon and some tasty pork in a tomato sauce went down very nicely. We'd made it there by around 9pm, but apparently this is too late - we had to settle for a standing table outside! It is a tiny place, but I certainly learned that the trick is to get there early!
We then went back to my flat to get ready for the night's entertainment - a mass birthday party in a storage warehouse...! We met my Spanish friends at their house and made our way to the edge of town, where a friend of a friend had hired a warehouse to serve as a makeshift party venue! I have to say it lacked atmosphere in my opinion, but it was great fun meeting lots of people and having a dance around while looking at funny photos of the birthday girls and boys - Lucena's young people know how to make their own fun! We then wandered back to the flat at a conservative 2am, as Quinny had been awake for nudging 24 hours at that point...!

On Sunday we decided to go and check out the local football team, as they were playing at home. After wandering round most of Lucena trying to find our way to the football ground on foot (I'd driven past it with Bijan and Bridget but had since completely lost my bearings!), we were eventually directed to the other end of town, relatively near where we'd come from! We chose the cheap seats for a bargainous 5€ and ended up being two of only about 7 fans in the stand!! It was good fun though, and the match took place during sunset, so it was set against a lovely backdrop. We then made our way back to my flat, where we rustled up a very tasty paella with a glass of wine for dinner!

On Monday Quinny had to make his way to Malaga relatively early, as the buses here are rather inflexible, so we made the most of our morning by going out for a coffee and tostada for breakfast and doing a bit of sales shopping! I then dropped him off at the bus station and made my way home to eat the remainder of the paella (I'd saved myself a treat - goodbyes are never fun!) and plan my lessons for my first full week of teaching solo! All in all, a lovely weekend :)

The next few weeks flew by in a hazy, steep learning curve - the kids are fantastic and I really enjoy the lessons, but it is amazing how quickly time flies, and when you think you have more than enough time to plan your lessons, somehow it's never quite enough to feel relaxed about it! I think it's the case that you can make it as big or small a task as you like. Now that I'm getting into my stride a bit more, I'm trying to come up with increasingly inventive ideas to ensure that the kids are really engaged and enjoying learning. It's a challenge, but a really fun one!

I also need to update you on my weekend in Cordoba, which hopefully I'll get round to very shortly....I'm off to London this weekend for Quinny's and my anniversary - 6 whole years! I spent most of yesterday planning what we're going to get up to - I'm so excited :) So I'll fill you in on how that goes too!

Love to all, do keep in touch! xxx

Skiing in the Sierra Nevada and my handover week at Academia Discover!

Phew, it's been a while since I updated this! So much has been going on! I'm a bit behind now, but here are some ideas of what I've been up to:

Skiing in the Sierra Nevada

After an eventful night in Granada and approximately 3 hours' sleep in the lovely Nest hostel, we took revenge on the guy keeping his phone light on in the hostel room all night by setting our alarms for 7am and sneaking out to hit the road to the ski slopes! Having never gone skiing before, navigating the ski resort was a new experience for our very sleepy foursome...
We arrived in good time for our 10am lesson (or so we thought!), parked and made our way to the resort. This was much bigger than I imagined! A cluster of chalets housing restaurants, ski hire shops and clothing stores sat atop the hillside, buzzing with Spanish families kitted out in full skiwear, stomping around in their clunky boots. We wove our way through them to find our kit hire shop and got dressed in our borrowed gear - we looked hilarious!

Our group on the slopes - I'm on the far left!

Me enjoying Spanish sun and snow

Unfortunately, once we had all our gear on, it was exhausting to walk around, and we were soon overheating in all our layers! We stomped around looking for our ski school, being directed up and down the slopes by various attendants - they're obviously not used to first-time skiers not knowing their way around! Eventually we established that we had to buy our ski pass in order to ride the cable car up the side of the mountain, so Bijan and I made our way to the ticket machines and off we clomped to join the queue. The view from the cable car was breathtaking, and the sudden hush when we pulled away from the crowds on the ground was startling.

Before long we arrived at the top of the mountain - a whole 45 minutes late for our 2-hour lesson! Oops... After recommending to our ski instructor that they signpost the way to the ski school better for beginners (!), we embarked upon our first foray into skiing, first learning how to "snow plough" (brake - very important!) and then trying it out down a few little slopes. A few hilarious episodes ensued (I didn't fall over at this point, but found it quite difficult to stop a few times!), and before long our lesson was over, leaving us to explore the slopes on our own.... 

We made our way up one of the ski escalators to try out the second beginner slope - this one was a bit bigger, and really fun! Gaining confidence, we then decided to go down the blue slope, which involved going up on the chair lift. Having never ridden one before, I was a bit uncertain as to how to get on it - this then involved me falling over pretty comically on the moving belt! Luckily I managed to right myself just in time to jump on! The 8 year olds I was sharing the lift with managed it just fine....Oops!

After posing for a picture at the top of the mountain (see above!), we made our way down, agreeing to meet at the bottom in case we (inevitably) got separated. This slope was a LOT bigger than the previous ones.... I gingerly made my way down, then suddenly gained speed and promptly toppled over, leaving my poles behind me! Fortunately I was helped by a Spanish ski instructor making his way down, who advised me to strap them to my wrists - so THAT's why they put those straps on there! So off I went again. Unfortunately, the next time I fell, one of my skis detached itself. Now, I don't know if you've ever tried to reattach a ski to a ski boot on a fairly steep mountainside, covered in fluffy, yielding powder....Hmm! After many failed attempts to reattach it to my boot, I decided to trudge down to a spot with firmer snow. Who should be riding over on the chair lift above me, but the ski instructor from before! What he must have thought of me...I had explained earlier that it was my first day skiing! Even then, I wasn't able to get my ski back on, and decided I'd have to give up and trudge back to solid ground at the bottom. On my way down, I met a Spanish girl doing the same - we decided that we weren't really cut out for this skiing business! Nonetheless, it was a fantastic day out, and was an absolutely bargainous way for me to try out skiing for the first time, in some truly breathtaking surroundings. I don't think I would ever have made it to Sochi 2014 though!

Week 1: Shadowing Alice

My first full week in Lucena was mainly spent observing Alice teaching our classes and taking notes on behaviour, the way she structured the lessons and her advice on how to deal with the 10 different groups of kids I would be teaching. This was an invaluable experience in preparing me for taking on the classes on my own once she had left! I also became very familiar with all the songs and chants that she used in her lessons - yes, I sing in my classes (a lot!)! I also observed the director, Assieh, teaching one of her classes. I was incredibly impressed with the discipline she had instilled in her kids (I think they were around 10-11 years old) - they were all chanting adjectives and the dreaded phrasal verbs (think go in, go out, go away, go off, go on....understandably a nightmare for English learners!) by rote, and were very well behaved. Something to bear in mind with my classes! 

On Friday, Alice handed over all the classes to me, meaning that Friday afternoon was my first time teaching 4 hours of classes back to back - pretty daunting! It was exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable - the kids are great, and were very excited at the prospect of a new teacher!

On Friday night, we had a lovely farewell dinner for Alice, prepared by Assieh herself - she doesn't come to the school on Fridays, and had spent the whole day cooking! She brought an array of foods to the school for when we finished teaching, including a lovely traybaked Valencian coca - a sort of crispy flatbread made with olive oil, topped with roasted red peppers and tomatoes - absolutely delicious! There were also slices of delicious local Manchego cheese, pepper, olive and feta skewers and slices of baguette topped with blue Brie and Assieh's incredible home-made quince jelly - a feast! We toasted with glasses of wine and Cava, then invited Assieh and Miguel Angel to come out for a drink at a local bar with us. Understandably, they rarely socialise in Lucena, as they can hardly step outside without seeing a parent of a child at the school, or one of their students, who wants to talk shop - so they were a little reluctant, but we managed to coerce them! 

We made our way to the Hacienda, a local bar where one of our friends works. When Bridget asked Assieh whether she felt like drinking beer or wine, Assieh responded with, "Hmm....tequila?!" So soon we found ourself knocking back a round of tequila slammers.....that escalated quickly! We stood chatting and getting to know each other for a while, until some salsa music came on, and Bridget and Bijan took to the floor to show us some salsa moves. Naturally I wanted in on this, so I had a crash-course lesson with them! Assieh then revealed that she and Miguel Angel used to dance, and promptly wowed us with their moves! I then mentioned that I loved flamenco and wanted to continue learning here in Lucena, so myself and Miguel Angel ended up dancing some sevillanas under the scrutiny of the Spaniards in the bar - oh dear! It was a fantastic night, and one which ended up being rather more raucous than I think any of us were anticipating! Great fun :)

That'll do for now - I've still got to write about what happened when Quinny came to visit and my first full week of teaching! We've also just met the other new teacher who's just joined, so there's that to update you on as well....so much going on!

Love to everyone xxx