English & The Spanish School System

The Simpsons would qualify as a large famliy

Since I've been teaching English to her kids, I've been asking Magui a few questions about the school system and how it all works. I wrote about it a bit previously but now that I've learned a bit more and discussed it with some people, it deserves an entry all its own.

First, a quick re-cap of the point system: This determines which school your son or daughter can go to.  You get points for - proximity to the school, having a sibling who's already/currently attending, and for having a large family. The more points you have, the higher up you are in the lottery/selection for that school. My family has 3 points so they always get their first option, while Jamie - Alvaro's friend - only has 1 point (proximity to the school) so he goes to a different school despite living near to this one.

You reach "large family status" when you have 3 kids, and actually get a special card (similar to a passport) that officially shows that you are a large family. It includes a family portrait, and information of your residence too. Having this status gets my famliy discounted prices for things, or better admission rates for the adults. It also gets them some tax breaks and other things like that, which, in the end don't end up being that financially beneficial, but help a bit along the way. I found this very interesting.

Also, through some brief Google searching, this seems to be an EU wide thing. Here's one site I found that seems to have decent information ELFAC Google Site

This document is a brief overview of the cause Child's Rights PDF

And here is the official .org site that leads you to another part of the Google Site elfac.org

English taught from the beginning of a student's education for 1 hour a day, but the classes are very poor. Many parents elect to put their kids into private tutoring for an additional hour a day, but this doesn't seem to be that effective as Alvaro told his mom he learned more about English from me in 1 week than he did from a whole year of his private tutoring.

He will be going to a new school in the fall that is bilingual: Half Spanish, Half English. The school the Mercedes goes to has 'sessions' so some things are taught in English, while the rest is in Spanish. Alvaro's previous school only had the 1hr English class, with everything in Spanish, so his sister has the advantage in my classes as she's more exposed to the language already.

From what I gather, there are about 4 different levels of English incorporation during a child's schooling years. Depending on their scores, as well as proximity to the school and (if its private) ability to pay, some students get much better English training than others. Both of my parents spent a few years living in London, and that is where they learned their English. My host dad said he really started to learn English when he was 18. Hopefully this new school will help Alvaro advance his English so he can learn it much earlier than his parents did. 

Its interesting, because the school system clearly understands the importance of English, as they start it right along with formalized education (even if it isn't done that well). While we don't introduce the option of a second language until the 6th grade/middle school, their need to learn English (or any other language for that matter) is much more pressing than ours. Living in Europe makes the knowledge of a second language that much more important, because you are much more likely to come across a situation where you can use it. If you go a few hundred miles in any direction, you're facing a new language. I could take a language trail from Spanish to French, to German to Polish in Europe, but in the US the most difference you'll get could be some funny phrases or an accent.

Our philosophy towards a second language is much more educational, and becoming more pressing given the US's position in the global economy, and the increasing rates of international travel. You could easily traverse all of North America with out any difficulty if you have English in hand. Of course if you are living in a highly Mexican populated area like Texas, New Mexico, or Southern California, Spanish can come in handy, but there are minimal situations in which you'll be the odd man out speaking English.

Last night at the terrace I was talking to Antonio (Magui's brother in law) about languages, and he knows 4 (Spanish, English, Catalan, Italian). This isn't out of a heightened cultural interest, or a unique language ability - it is out of necessity, and there are many more Europeans who fit this mold of being armed with multiple languages than you'll probably find anywhere else in the world.

It's great how the geography of a continent has so much to do with language education, skills, and abilities. In fact, geography can be the attributing factor to a lot of things we do. Language and communication is just one of them.

Hoy es Miercoles

Alvaro, shopping at the China Store

It seems like every day now, the kids ask me what day it is, what date it is, and how much longer I will be living with their family.

This makes me sad.

While I have loved teaching them, and living with their family, I realize that 5 weeks will be the perfect amount of time to do so. Originally, I was going to stay here for 2 months (July, Aug) but my start date at DraftFCB got moved up, so I had to shorten my trip. I could keep on traveling for quite some time without a problem, but I'm realizing how challenging it is to teach kids this young during the summertime.

For them, it must be difficult as during the mornings, I am their teacher. But as soon as class is done I'm their friend, like an older cousin or a neighbor, who can play Wii with them, swim in the pool with them, and just goof around. Then at night i'm their mom's friend who goes out with the parents, or the person who hold all the top records in Wii Fit.

Mer & Cousin Laura

This experience has been incredible, and I am so glad and fortunate that I was able to do it. There is no better way to experience the culture of a place than to witness, day in, day out, what the people actually do. How they treat their family, what they eat, how they work, what they do for fun. Sure, going to the major cities and spending a weekend there is great, but that's the way to learn the city - not its people.

I would love to do something similar to this again in the future as I think I've learned so much about myself, what I want in my life, and what I want in my future in terms of work/life balance, children, spouse, and family relations.

Alvaro, on several occasions, has asked if he can come visit me in the states. I told him to wait until he's 16, or until he learns English. While I don't know how realistic this visit is right now (he's 10 years old . . . I'm starting my first full time job while still living with my parents) I truly hope that it can happen some day in the future.

Paula with the BK crown

Last night in the pool, he was talking to his dad about going to college/university, and how much things cost. His dad would like him to go a school in the states as it provides you better life experience and gives you more options. Alvaro says "Oh! So I should go to school in Chicago, so I can live with Jenna!"

Kids are so great. They are so young and innocent, and know just what to say to make you smile.

Barcelona: Friendship & Fantasy

"I recharge like American electronics on Spanish voltage"

Super silly, but totally true. No one should be able to have a Saturday like I did on less than 3 hours of sleep.

Last weekend, I flew to Barcelona to cross Euro Trip paths with one of my best friends from College, Seth, and his friend from home. It was exciting for us to have our first post-grad reunion while we were both abroad in Spain! The morning getting there was tough, but totally worth it - down to the last Euro.

I'm still surprised by my ability to do so much with such little time, including touring Barcelona and having an epic reunion in less than 40 hours. Here are photo highlights from my weekend adventures with Seth:

Here is the famous street of Barcelona, La Rambla. It is home to tons of street performers, and apparently a guy who rides around naked on a bike (we must have missed that). It was pretty cool as the street is lined with trees and has pretty much everything for sale. I liked that from up in the park you could tell which street was La Rambla due to its sheer size.

La Boqueria was the best part of walking La Rambla, as it was the most epic food market I have ever seen. I'd have to liken it to shopping at the silk markets in China, but minus the bartering, and exchange the clothes and goods for food. It smelled of fresh everything! Fruit, juices, seafood, meats, I wanted to try a bit of everything. The crabs were still alive and some of the fish look straight out of the sea.

We ended up trying some quiches/empanadas, and then a variety of fried cod as well (croquetas, dumplings). Both very excellent choices.

The Beach in Barcelona was amazing. Not just because it was my first Spanish beach, but everything was sparkling with golden flakes! The sand and sea apparently appear to shimmer due to a large amount of Mica. It was super neat to be all golden and sparkly just by laying in the sand.

Interestingly enough, these beaches aren't natural. They were actually made when Barcelona had the Summer Olympics in 1992. All of the sand was imported, and now gives Barcelona bragging rights for having one of the best beaches in the world.

 Magnum Bars! Not specific to Barcelona, or Spain, but still the best ice cream bar I've ever had. I don't know what it is, but its absolutely delicious. This one was Magnum Gold!?, which was a mix of vanilla and caramel ice cream, with a chocolaty golden covered shell. Even my ice cream on the beach shimmered!

Okay, so easily my favorite part of Barcelona was the Gaudi designed, Parc Guell. I don't know exactly what it is, but the feeling of whimsy, bliss, and pure content can be hard to come by, and I felt all of that during my time in the park. It was like being in a Dr. Seuss story, or in a scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Just totally unreal.

While the entrance to the park was fun, what really did it was the expansive view of all of Barcelona. We felt on top of the world, which is a position that really gets you thinking about people, places, and life in general. Everyone needs to experience a view like this to really expand their perspective. I wish this view was outside my window every day. 

Even higher up in the park, this location offered a 360 view of Barcelona.

On Sunday we went over to see La Sagrada Familia. Yet another breath taking, thought provoking design by Gaudi. We didn't pay to go inside, but outside was enough to have us sit and talk about the building and Gaudi's influence on Barcelona for quite some time. Its incredible to think that this is the only Cathedral in the world still under construction.

All over Barcelona, there are different houses and apartments that Gaudi was commissioned to do. We didn't go inside as they cost 20ish Euro each, (and had really long lines as the houses seemed to be the only thing open in all of Barcelona on a Sunday), but outside and the gift shop gave us a pretty good idea of what he was all about. His designs create a fantasy land that I never wanted to leave. It was just so much fun!

Barcelona was an excellent weekend trip, and I hope to go back there again soon. Despite my Spanish being useless in reading signs and some menus, (as they use Catalan), the vast feeling of the city and the beauty of the beaches and the park are enough to keep me coming back for more.

~Jenna

Pics from Last Week

Here are some random pics from last week in Madrid. . .

McDonalds Restaurants are so much more upscale everywhere outside of the US. This one was connected to a supermarket complex. It included a 'theater' room where they had kid's tv playing with surround sound, and a whole array of seating so you could enjoy your meal without missing your show. Naturally, it was highly air conditioned, so we didn't stick around too long after finishing our food. . .

I met up with some of the other people doing Conversation Corps in Madrid right now, so we took to the city for some tapas, and exploration. Here, we stumbled upon a food market that was pretty neat to look at.

I love taking pictures of my kids as they just go about doing normal things. Here's Alvaro on our walk to "el super" (the supermarket)

And here's Mer, chasing the butterflies.

Monday we went to the water park, Aquopolis. It'd be similar to any non-major water park in the US, so not your six flags water park, but better than the local water slide at the pool. Check out some of the attractions here!

 . . . And yes. Those are my feet.

Flying in Spain

So as much as I love traveling, I'm gonna take a break from planes for a bit, at least while my home is Madrid.

Both weekends, I've been set back by serious delays upon my return, the primary cause being that the air traffic controllers are on strike.

I don't know why they even bother to sell tickets for a flight at 21:20 that ends up leaving at 1:10am, or another for 20:45 that can't board till 1:45am, then surprisingly lets us on the plane an hr before that. I mean, they have to know there are going to be delays when 30% of the staff is 'out sick'.

Anyways, its interesting how people bond in a time of stress. You feel like a collective group, rather than a bunch of individuals trying to get to the same place. This happens for any type of emotion: Happy, Sad, Excited, Stressed. Look for it next time you're in a group of anonymous individuals and something happens. Its a part of human nature.

(Also, its interesting how quickly a crowd can all light up cigarettes upon stepping foot outside the airport.)

Ah Spain, how do I only have 2 weeks left of you?

Sevilla: My 2-Day Adventure

I haven't really yet said what I did while in Sevilla, so I though I'd show you. . .

 After I got off the bus, it hit me that I was in Sevilla. En route of wandering to find my hostel, I ended up over in the Parque de Maria Louisa, and found La Plaza de Espana. Although it was under construction it was still one of the most beautiful places I went to in Sevilla.

A block away from my hostel, I was distracted by yet another monument type structure: El Torre de Oro (Tower of Gold). It was only 1 Euro to go up for students (I had to pay 2E because I didn't show the lady my student ID. . . she never asked me. Lame), so I figured it'd be a great easy way to get a good view of the city, and check out the sights. From here I discovered the river, the bridges, the cathedral, and a few other nifty things. I'd say it was worth it.

I finally made it to The Living Roof: Backpacker's Hostel, which was only a few minutes walk away from the main attraction, The Cathedral. I loved staying here, and for my first Hostel experience, it's gonna be pretty tough to beat. The rooms were furnished by IKEA, and had AC. The rooftop had some nifty seating and a pretty cheap bar at night. Plus, the people I met there really made my weekend.

After checking in, I went over to The Cathedral of Sevilla, which is the Largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, 3rd largest overall. It was quite elaborate, and after I got out of the main room, each turn was full of surprises. Be it the treasure room, or a decked out oval ceiling, I really enjoyed my time there more than I thought I would. This pic shows the ornate nature of the ceiling of the main room in the Cathedral. They had this angled mirror on the floor so that you could look up and get a great view, Or so that everyone could stand in it and take a picture like I did.

The tower of the Cathedral is called La Giralda, and this is the view from the top of it. Walking up the slanted floor was quite a challenge for 32 floors, but not as hard as it was to walk down them. (Instead of stairs, it was just a slant. . . quite the calf workout). At the top were bells, as well as great views of the city as you can see here. I love being high up, so this just added to that feeling of awesome when exploring a new city. Also, through traveling I've noted that each city has its own color scheme. Paris is very white and cream, Sevilla was very light brown with pockets of color. I really enjoyed it, especially from the street level.

Next to the Cathedral was my favorite attraction, La Real Alcazar. It is one of the best remaining examples of Mudejar architecture, and all I wanted to know was when I got to move in. The grounds consisted of the palace itself as well as the gardens, and was enough to occupy 2-3 hours of my time. I'm not much of a tour person when I travel (ha despite being a tour guide at Michigan. . . that's different though) as I like to take my time where I want, and skip over the over generalized parts. This self guided tour took me in rooms and out into gardens and passage ways, leaving me hoping I didn't miss anything. It was great. I have lots of pics of this place on Facebook if you want to see more of its beauty.

On Sunday, I met up with two of the guys from the hostel, Rob and Jeff, to spend the day experiencing the local life of Sevilla. We started off by visiting an art market displaying work by local artists. It was great. I bought two small pieces of a narrow street in Sevilla, with a flowering building on the side, where one is far away view, and the other is close up. They work well together. It was fun to practice speaking Spanish to all of the vendors/artists as well.

The rest of the afternoon we just walked around the city, finding ourselves taking the more narrow road and getting 'lost' in the beauty of the city. Streets like this would emerge, and take us down more small roads before ending in a 5 way intersection of other streets. Regardless of how long we'd wander, we'd always find our way back. The amount of tourist shops was always an indicator of our proximity to the Cathedral.

After spending some time riverside, we made our way back through the small streets to find this highly recommended Tapas place. It was for sure a great choice. Not only for the drinks and the food, but for the atmosphere, and last bonding moments, I couldn't have asked for a better closure to my trip. The speed at which it came and went feels like a dream that I want to have again and again. Everything was just so perfect. (p.s. the picture on the top of my blog w/ the chalk writing came from this place. Loves it)

We made our way back to the hostel, I gathered my things and said my goodbyes. This was a much needed solo vacation, and one I will never forget. Not for the major sites, but just for the little things and how easy it was to connect with people, and go with the flow to have fun.

~Jenna

For the Record . . .

I HATE Flys.

Since Spanish don't like AC, all the windows are open all day, and these windows are like, ceiling to floor. Hence, at least 20 flies swarming around as I type. Not Cool.

Someone needs to bring them the invention of the screen. And Fast!


/end rant.