Livin' in the 'dorra

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The next day in Andorra brought an even earlier appointment with which to start the day - 7am blood tests. At 6:30 we met in the lobby to make the trek to the hospital. Now Fulbright had already demanded from us the paperwork from a full physical including blood work and tb test, but of course Andorra wanted it AGAIN. No matter that two PPDs within a few months of one another can result in TB symptoms. Hogwash! We were all out of there by 7:45, with only one British girl having an issue with nausea before finally getting over it and completing the short visit. Afterwards those of us with the 9am appointment with Jordí went for coffee and fresh croissants before heading further into town to meet him, as well as Risha, at the government building.

I've continued to become a more and more legit person and now have both an Andorran debit card and cell phone. More importantly I have purchased el Gran Llibre de la Cuina Catalana, more or less ”The Great Book of Catalan Cuisine”. I intent to, over the next 10-12 months, plow through this book and eventually feel at home cooking up Catalan feasts. As I'll be posting recipes eventually, please do have a look at the food blog my Boston friends and I update, Les Gourmands du South End . Perhaps I'll copy ”Julie” of ”Julia and Julia” fame and eventually be portrayed in the feature film ”Jeff and Josep”, Josep being the author-chef's name.

For a few hours over the last two days I've also had the opportunity to visit my school, the Escola Andorrana centra de batxillerat. This two-year batxillerat is the education that happens after the compulsory period, up through age 16, but before university. Since that means the kids I have somewhat ¨want¨to be there and are a bit older at 17-18, hopefully they'll be better behaved. The school itself is super nice, having been inaugurated only in 2002. The gorgeous mountain backdrop certainly helps as well. Though not in the city center, the school can be reached easily by the Comunal bus in 10 minutes or so, with buses running every 20-30 minutes. Not too bad. I've also noticed some fun places like a Mexican and Portuguese restaurant on the way, so hopefully I can find some more fun ethnic enclaves. We'll see if I eventually (meaning in a couple weeks) end up wanting to still live in the center or in the village of La Margineda itself, where the school is located.

The teachers at the school could not have been more friendly, and basically all of them are young and seem fun. Among the English faculty is also an Indian girl and a Czech girl, so we most certainly have the most diverse department. Instead of just having a free-for-all teach-what-I-want conversation class, this year I am going to be supplementing the daily lectures with a conversational approach to textbooks themes and focal points. The book itself is kind of fun, and surprisingly deals with some heavy topics like ”Ebonics”, displaying an anti-ebonics ad from Atlanta some years ago and asking students to discuss it. I'm not the biggest fan of how they describe the situation, so when we come to that I'll have to put on my sociolinguist hat and have at it.

In terms of my schedule, they still have no clue, but I'll be teaching for 12 hours a week, with some additional hours for lesson-planning and teacher meetings. I am teaching all the students of the 2nd year as well as those students from the 1st year that Risha doesn't cover in her time slot. Each week I see only one half of various classes, which means that I will only have to plan for every two weeks. On the downside, it will probably take me quite a bit of time to learn everyone's names. Luckily the classes all seem to be all around 12-20some students, so I won't have to deal with more than a dozen at a time.

As for this upcoming weekend I have absolutely no responsibilities. With next Monday-Thursday in Madrid for the Fulbright Commission meetings, I'm basically just cruising until the end of next week when I have to present myself to the students. Today I bought myself a pair of hiking shoes, so I'm all set for a mountain excursion or two! We'll see how rugged I am after my time here, lol. Fins ara!

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Photos

Teacher's Lounge
Where I can chill, lesson-plan, having coffee, etc.

Central Courtyard
Where I'm sure all the kids chain-smoke despite the no-smoking sign

Entrance
What you see upon walking into the school

Plaque
School was founded in 2002, etc.

Comments

[PM]

How exciting! I'm thrilled you found this cookbook. If it produces good food, you will have to translate the whole thing for us! The class you are teaching sounds like it will be fun

[Mom]

Noticed the new photo. Nice. The school and its mountain views remind me of the Montessori school we visited in Guatemala last year. I can't believe you are going to be teaching!