¡España!

---

Hey guys! I hope yall are doing well! Thanks for the messages that yall have sent so far! Its's fun to get them and be reminded of home. Things have been crazy since I got here. I flew out of Atlanta at 6:45 pm on Sunday and got to Madrid at 9:05 am (8 hour, 20 minute flight). I am now 6 hours ahead of you here. I then had to take a 2 different subways to get to the train that took me to Avila. I then took a taxi from the train station to my residencia (the place that I am staying). I finally got settled into my room around 2 pm, so to say the least, it was a crazy trip to get here. I met up with 2 of the other girls that are teaching here as well and we wandered around Avila for about 3 hours. It is a very hilly-STEEP hills-town. I definitely got a work out. Mr. O'Bryan, I bought a pedometer to see about how many steps I'll be taking each day and today I got up to 17, 222. That's about 6.5 miles.

The encounters that I have had with people have been interesting, positive, but interesting. It is very difficult to go from speaking English for my whole life to switching to Spanish. Not many people here speak English, so in order to communicate with anyone, I HAVE to speak Spanish. This is a good thing, but just very exhausting!

Let me tell you a little bit about the school day here. Today was my first day at my school, Colegio Pablo VI. My teacher, Reyes, teaches English. She spoke mainly in English to me today, but hopefully once I am more comfortable she will switch to Spanish so that I can get more practice. I have students from ages 6-12. The 6 year olds know minimal English. They have been learning numbers, colors, family members, things that are more simple. The older kids can speak English fairly well. THey are a little shy to talk to me, but when they do, they speak it well enough that I can understand them. I am impressed with how well they know English at such a young age! The students here call their teacher by their first name (sorry, Mr. O'Bryan, if the kids start to do this now that I've mentioned it is how they do it in Spain). So all of the students call me Amy. It's pretty funny how they say it because they really emphasize the two syllables in my name A-my. It doesn't really flow, but I don't mind! I go to school from 9:30 until 12:30 and then I have a 3 hour break for lunch and a ciesta! 😊 Also, between 11:20 and 11:40 the kids have recess and I have "una merienda" which is basically a coffee break. Coffee, café, is the main drink here I would say. That is all there is to drink for breakfast and during break. I've definitely felt dehydrated from not getting enough water! After my 3 hour break, I go back to the school from 3:30 till 5:30. 5:30 is not late at all to them because they do not eat dinner until 9 pm. After school there are a lot of parents walking around with their kids. The kids are playing at a local park or kicking a soccer ball around a plaza (similar to a square). My friend Emily and I walked and shopped around Avila tonight for about 2 hours and EVERYONE was out walking around until about 9. The days seem much longer when you don't eat dinner till 9 pm and don't start to wind down until after dinner.

I will try to write more soon. It is 11:30 pm here (5:30 pm in Indiana), so I better get to bed! I hope yall are doing well. I do miss yall! When I was with the 11-12 year old students today I was thinking about yall. They were being silly and goofing off just like yall do! I had a lot of fun with them!

I'm going to post a few pictures, but this site takes a while to download pics, so I download more later on! Continue to let me know how yall are doing though! I've loved the messages! Have a great day and be good for all your teachers! 😊 Adios!

---

Photos

Avila
Avila is known for its medieval walls. The historic part of the town is surrounded by the walls. My residencia and school are on the outskirts of the wall. You can begin to see the walls at the top, middle part of the picture.

Avila
Part of the wall in Avila

Avila
A view of part of Avila with snow-capped mountains in the background. I see this every morning when I'm walking to school. It's beautiful and a great start to my day!