STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!

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Last week I volunteered at an after school program that is desperately in need of native English speakers to help teach young kids (ages 5-9). Students in Spain are required to take English from age 3 until they graduate high school. Unfortunately, when a native Spanish speaker tries to teach English, their strong accent masks the English vocabulary. Natalie (one of the Americans in my program) has been volunteering at this program for a few weeks. I thought it sounded great and it would give me a break from studying! The first hour was completely chaotic. Kids were running around, yelling, hitting each other, etc. I felt like I was working at a daycare again, minus the authority to tell the kids to be careful and settle down. I was a little disappointed because I desperately miss my tutoring job at OSU and I thought this would compensate, but it didn't even come close. The next hour and a half was better because I got to play games and sing songs with the kids to help them learn vocabulary. We worked on expressing favorite foods, sports, colors and geometric shapes. I really enjoyed that part because the kids were fun and they beamed when they remembered how to say something in English. I was pretty worn out after I left and I couldn't decide if it was something I wanted to do every week. One thing I was nervous about was the fact that all of the kids were sneezing all over everything. It's funny how many little things I find that I miss, such as disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. I know that sounds like a petty thing, but they don't have the same sanitary regulations that we do and they don't teach their kids to cover their mouths. The last thing I want to do is waste what little precious time I have left here sick in bed.

Two days later I got really sick. It came out of nowhere at 11:30 at night and it wasn't pretty. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say I was up until 7 that morning bonding with my toilet. My host mom came in our room the at 2 in the afternoon to tell us lunch was ready and she could tell I was sick. She also had been up all night vomiting and said that she was fairly sure it was the stomach flu. I slept the entire weekend thanks to the pharmacy that my mom packed for me! My roommate was nice enough to take care of me and went to the store to buy me some crackers. On Saturday my host grandpa had caught what Milagros and I had. 3 generations vomiting in one house… talk about family bonding. I will say this, nothing makes you more homesick than being ill in a foreign country and sleeping on a futon when your body is in excruciating pain. No worries though, my family here was constantly checking on me and offered to take me to the doctor. Even Juan was checking in on me to make sure I was okay. He really is the best director in the whole entire world. Hooray for SuperJuan!

Luckily, I was feeling good enough to go to class on Monday morning so I didn't have to fall behind. Since then I have been doing nothing but homework and studying, because my finals are coming up fairly soon. The Americans who are leaving in December have to cram in nearly two months of material on top of what we are currently learning so we can be home for the start of the spring semester. The universities in Spain (and all of Europe for that matter) take their finals in February, have a break, and then start the next semester. I have been pretty good about studying, but I still have a lot to do and I have to spend a lot of time working on papers for my Spanish Oral Tradition class. One paper is due next week and the other is due at the end of the semester. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you are in a class full of fluent speakers, your papers can't have little grammatical mistakes just because you are a foreigner, not to mention the material that this class focuses on is difficult to understand and hasn't been studied by an abundance of people. I do enjoy the writing practice though and I am learning a lot.

Today there was a student strike, so 95% of the university classes were canceled. The students were protesting the high cost of university education in the plaza near my house. There were signs posted all over the school halls as well. I, of course, still had my grammar class, because we are all international students. I would personally love to pay less for my college education and I support their strike 100%.

I worked on homework almost all day, but I called it quits at dinner because my brain starting to fry. Tomorrow I don't have class, but I am going to Jerez (a nearby town) in the afternoon with the API group. It is our last excursion together! I believe we are going to do some wine-tasting!

Sunday is significant for two reasons: 1) Jeff Clifton the new API Regional Director of University Relations is coming to Cádiz to visit. We are going to dinner with him and he is going to meet some of our families. 2) Elections are being held for Zapatero's replacement- which is a huge deal for all of the Spanish citizens. I am interested to see the results!

On Monday I will fly to Madrid to meet Blake!

Thursday is Thanksgiving with our API group… I hope it is good because I am extremely upset about not being home for my favorite holiday.

Just a few fun facts that I learned at dinner this week-
Spaniards celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December just like we do, but the day they open presents is January 6th which is el día de los reyes magos (day of the wise men/3 kings). On New Year's Eve they go to parties and celebrate like we do at home, but Milagros said that it is a tradition here to wear red undergarments on New Year's for some unknown reason.

Additionally, I have recently realized that my Spanish has improved immensely since I got here- more than I ever imagined. Listening to people talk is just like listening to English now. Speaking still takes a little effort, but not nearly as much as it use to! I wish I could bring my Spanish family back to the U.S. with me so I could continue to get this kind of practice after I leave here.

I hope you all have a fantastic week and if I don't update my blog before next Thursday, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you all!

Jerica

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