Market Day!

Hola a todos!
Today is Thursday and its an official holiday here in Soria so I had no school today. So this morning I got up to run some errands and I wanted to check out the open air market that only happens on Thursday. It was wonderful! The entire area is set up with vendors selling the freshest vegetables, fruit, bread, cheeses, fish, nuts and the best of all was the cloistered nuns sell their baked goods. I bought the best little cookies from the nuns booth. I also got some vegetables and fruit, everything is so fresh. I got the best strawberries I have had in a long time! After the market I met up with some other teaching assistants and the 2 daughters of one of the assistants and we had a picnic. We hiked up this hill with a park towards the top and sat and ate all of our goodies. We ran into some of our students at the park, who were all up drinking on their day off. Its so different here, most of them were between the ages of 14-16 and the police were wandering around not bothering anyone at all who wasn't bothering others (its just such a difference in culture). My stuff from the market was amazing! Then on our way home we checked out the tree that Antonio Machado (famous Spanish poet, who lived in Soria) wrote "A un olmo seco" about. We then had coffee and returned home. I don't know what I will do this weekend, although I hope to go out because Carnival kicks off this weekend here in Soria. Also I posted a few more pictures to my last album, just a few of the market, but the link is in my last post if you want to check them out!

more pics!

Hey guys I have posted some more pics on Picasa. Just a few random shots of the city and Luna, the kitty. Check them out! The address is below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/robisodl/Soria12808

Week 2

Hello!!! My week is over already, and yes its only Wednesday! Thursday is the day of the patron saint of Soria (if you have seen my pictures on Picasa, the church and "ermita" I visited by the river is where the saint lived) so we get Thursday and Friday off school. One of the great things about Spanish life is they give vacation time for every holiday!
Well I have been busy the past week, which has been nice to have a little more structure for my day. I had classes as normal and I have started a tutoring program at an elementary school here in Soria. I had my first lesson with them on Tuesday. Tuesday someone came with me to help show me the ropes and next week I will be by myself. I'm a little nervous because I'm not quite sure what to do with them. I have to plan all my own activities and my own topics to cover. I am thinking I will start with colors, animals and numbers for now. I have downloaded songs off the internet (5 little monkeys jumping on the bed for use of numbers as an example) to use in class. The children are from ages 4 to 10. The majority are around 6 or so. The four year olds are really hard to work with because they have a very short attention span. So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on activities I could use I would appreciate it.
The woman who was helping with this program has also asked me if I would do the same thing at another elementary school with the same activities for different children of the same age group, as well as a similar group of high school students. So if those programs come together I may be a very busy lady her in Spain.
Last weekend I didn't do to much. Friday I went out and had a couple beers with my roommates and Sat. we went to see Los Crimenes de Oxford (The crimes of Oxford) and then had Kebab (Kebab places are really popular here in Spain) for dinner.
I don't have any plans for the long weekend! I have Mondays off so I have nothing to do for the next 5 days!! I don't know what I will do with myself! I hope everyone is doing well! I will have a beer over the long weekend for you all!

Week 1

Hey Guys!!!
So my first week of school is over! It went well. I can see that it will take a bit to settle in. The teachers said they will give me material to prepare for the next week. It has also been a bit hectic meeting everyone and all. Today I had a group of first year students that I will be meeting with every week. They didn't speak much English so it was a bit tough to discuss topics but it went alright, it was the first time that I have been on my own with a group of students. I'm not quite sure what I will do over the weekend, some people have left for the weekend so we will see. Hopefully I will take some more pics this weekend to post! Alright well I hope everyone has a great weekend! Miss you all!

Work Day 2

Hello Everyone! I'm really glad to hear that people are reading this stuff! Its good to read your comments so keep them coming! Today was my second day of work. It was a little more interesting than the first. I graded more papers for a while. The papers are very tedious to grade but the kids have such imaginations. I read one about a planet made of sugar and the explorers needed space suits with insulin control so that they didn't become hyper-glycemic, keep in mind all of this was in English! Then I had an hour of conversation with a teacher that I assist in a science class, we went over the lesson so she could pronounce everything she needed to properly. The lesson was on evolutionary theories so I learned some things. Then I had my first class, it was biology. It was the last class of the day and they were really hyper and talkative. They were around 13 and 14 years old. It was hard because I think that everyone just wanted to go. All I had to do was read some questions for them to answer. They all spoke very English very well, especially for it being all science related. The class ended well and the teacher told me she will give me some topics to prepare for the next week.
After class a teacher came in today to talk to me about a program where I will go once a week to a school (different than mine) and I will pretty much just hang out with some younger children and teach them beginners English, such as how to say their names and simple greetings. Its only once a week and it pays as a tutoring position. I decided to take it, I love hanging out with little kids plus it pays! So I will let you all know how that goes.
Well I don't have much more to update you on! I'm off to get dinner, I am getting Telepizza, which is my favorite pizza place here! A four cheese pizza with goat cheese and a carbonara sauce and I havent had it since I have been back! YUM!

Work

So I started work today. Not much to tell. It was a pretty boring day. I didn't have to go to any classes today. I just corrected papers in the office and then I had a conversation hour scheduled but the teacher had a doctors appointment so I left. Thats it. I will update more tomorrow hopefully if I have more to tell!

Pics at last!

Hola a todos! Good news! I finally have some pics., but I don't like the way this blog uploads them, so I am going to post a link at the end of my posts for the website that I am posting them on. Anyways yesterday was a great day! My roommate and I went for a walk down by the river just outside the city. It was gorgeous and thats what my pics are of. We walked for a while! We then came to this ermita which is a small church with a cave in it which is guess is the ermita (which i think is where a hermit lives, how perfect for me right Kris?). Anyways the scenery is great! Afterwards I met the other teaching assistants for the first time for coffee, which turned into coffee a few beers and some tapas (pickles, anchovies and olives :/ jamon, and french fries). They all seem really great and seem to be enjoying the school and their work. They also said they would help me find some students to tutor on the side!
Today I walked along with one of the other assistants, Marilyn and her two children to school this morning. Afterwards she helped me set up a bank account, and get some paperwork for my Spanish ID. Then we had breakfast, which was tostado (thick bread grilled with butter on both sides served with peach marmalade, cafe con leche (espresso with steamed milk) and a glass of orange juice (squeezed right in front of me) all for under 3 Euro! Then it was off to the butcher, bread shop and then the market where I got some clementines (which are still great here mom!).
Tomorrow is my first day at work! So I will post again soon to let you know how that went!

On a side note, I am very very disappointed in this years Superbowl!!!

My Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/robisodl/SoriaSpain08?authkey=Bata3krAbQg
*let me know if there are any problems viewing them from the link, or commenting on them. Thanks!

New Phone!

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know I got a phone! My number is: 626-29-94-70. You'll have to dial 011 then 34 (Spain country code) then the number. Nothing else new to update. I have been sleeping a lot, trying to get over my jet lag. OH and today I was cleaning my room and looked under my bed and found a pull out bed underneath. So if anyone wants to visit me I have a bed for you!

I made it!!!

Well I made it to Soria after a long day of traveling. My flight to Frankfurt Germany was good. I sat next to an Italian girl about my age that had studied in Michigan and was visiting her boyfriend. She invited me to stay with her in Rome and we exchanged email addresses. Then I had a four hour lay over in Frankfurt where I met a man from Lebanon who was lost, spoke no English or Spanish, but he was going to Madrid too, so I helped him find our gate. Once there he never left my side, no matter how hard I tried. He knew the word friend in English and asked me several times if we were friends.
Next I arrived in Madrid, my luggage came out right away and I talked to some people in the airport who told me about a bus that took me straight to the bus station I needed, so it was very easy. Then I got to Soria after a 2-3 hour bus ride and couldn't get a hold of anyone so I came to my apartment and my roommate let me in. Both of my roommates are good so far! I think later today we are going to go to the mall. Sergio even made me lunch today because I have no food yet, he made lentils, they were good and they were the first thing I have eaten since being here in Spain.
Today I went to the school and one of the teachers showed me around town. The school has a bi-lingual program. The department is very small but everyone seems nice. My schedule seems to be good, except Fridays I have to start at 8 :( But about half of my time here is conversation, where I meet with a teacher and help them with their English. I also am helping teach 4 science classes as well as English classes.
After Isabel (the teacher) left me I walked around the city. I even hiked up a huge hill to see the Parador, which is a hotel developed around some ancient ruins, it had great views! The people here are great! I had several conversations with strangers, they're so nice. Someone even bought my coffee today in the coffee shop that I didn't know. The people here are much more open, much more so than in Salamanca. Then I went to the market just to look. Its right down the street from where I live, its small but really cool. They have lots of fresh fruits and veggies and inside is all fresh fish and meat. I saw some interesting squid and octopus in the market.
So, so far so good! Its a small town but not as small as I had imagined. I start classes on Tuesday, I have Mondays off. I will update and let everyone know how they go. I will post some pictures as soon as I take some. Also I think that I am getting a cell phone today, the teacher at the school seems to think I need it today for some reason, so I guess I'm going to go get one in a bit. I will post the number in an update and anyone can call me then either from a phone card or any phone :) I hope all is well back in the States and I miss you and wish you were here!