THE FIRST WEEK OF WORK

For the past three weeks, I have just felt like I’m on holiday with no real purpose here in Spain. However, that bubble burst last Monday on my first day of work! This year I will be working in two Spanish primary schools as an English language assistant where my role will be to help the children improve their oral skills in English. One of the perks of this is that I only have to work 15 hours a week (some of us have it really tough, I know) so I will have plenty of free time to travel and socialise.

When last Monday morning finally arrived, I was unbelievably nervous. Everything was so unfamiliar and I didn’t know what to expect. I had met a handful of my colleagues briefly and I knew most of the English teachers that I would be working alongside but this still didn’t make me feel any better. Alongside this, I had been asked to prepare a presentation about myself which was scary enough in itself. I didn’t know whether it was interesting enough or if the children would understand it. I had so many worries that I was surprised I slept at all the night before.

The bus I take to school is supposed to arrive in the town where I teach at 8.47 but on Monday it didn’t arrive there until 8.55. This did nothing but add to my nerves as I thought I was going to be late (something I absolutely hate). I all but sprinted to school from the bus stop and apologised profusely to my mentor teacher for being late. However, she assured me that I was not late at all and said not to worry as I didn’t start teaching until 9.15!

After giving my presentation for the first time my nerves melted away completely and I felt quite silly for being nervous at all in the first place. When I thought about it, I was telling Spanish primary school children about myself and Ireland – somewhere they maybe hadn’t heard much about. Of course they were going to find it interesting! I was taken aback by how much they seemed to understand, especially as they were being told all of this new information by someone with a Northern Irish accent – again something they had probably never heard before.

The children seemed impressed with the new information I was telling them. They were especially taken aback with seeing a pound coin compared with a euro! It was so nice to hear whispers of ¡qué guay! (how cool) as I passed the coin around the class as it told me that they were genuinely interested.

As part of my role is to teach them some things about the UK and Ireland, I included some aspects about Irish culture in my presentation too. One of these aspects was Irish dancing and when I showed them a video of Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance they seemed to be amazed! By the end of the week I had given this presentation 15 times, so trust me when I say I now know it by heart and I think I may even know the dance in the clip of Lord of the Dance by heart as well.

As you can imagine some of the questions they asked me after my presentation were interesting. They ranged from the ordinary to the slightly absurd. What’s your favourite colour? What’s your favourite animal? Do you like broccoli? Do you like Spain? Do you have a boyfriend? Are you married? It’s so funny seeing what innocent minds are curious about.

As I’ve said, my role is to help with the children’s English skills so they have been told that I don’t speak any Spanish and so I can’t answer them when they ask me something in Spanish. This is frustrating for all parties – for me, it is difficult not to answer them and tell them I understand them when they ask me something in Spanish. And of course, it is difficult for the children because they don’t always know how to ask what they want to know in English. The surprising thing is, however, that most of them do try their best to ask in English. They are not afraid to ask questions and when doing so, they refer to me as ‘Teacher Shannon’ which is so cute. It is so interesting for me to see how they put these questions together and you can almost see the tiny cogs in their heads turning as they almost translate from Spanish to English what they want to say.

Another amazing thing about the school I work most of my hours in, is that they are studying Harry Potter in English this year. This couldn’t be any more perfect as I absolutely love Harry Potter. I honestly feel like the time I spend here won’t feel like work at all as it is so enjoyable.

One thing I have noticed in the mornings is that it feels quite chilly, so I wear a cardigan when leaving to get the bus to go to work. In the grand scheme of things it isn’t actually chilly as it is around 18°. However, when it reaches 30° in the afternoon it definitely is chilly in comparison. It’s a nice problem to have, I know. It’s like the weather in September at home when you need to layer up in the morning but will end up being roasting by midday. Think like that – but tenfold.

Moving away from what happened at school this week, one exciting thing was my dad coming to visit me on Monday evening! He had been in Spain over the weekend on a trip with his friend to Alicante. It was so nice to meet up and catch up as I hadn’t seen my dad since the morning I left for Spain. Obviously we had spoken on the phone but that isn’t really the same as seeing someone in person. We had some dinner and drinks and I was able to walk them round the city without having to use google maps – I’m beginning to feel somewhat like a local!

On Thursday night, my friend Nicole and I went for dinner with an assistant from her school and some of her friends. They meet up on a Thursday every week to try a new restaurant! This week we went to a tapas restaurant called Madre de Dios and the group said it was a bit fancier than the places they would usually go. Normally, they just order a lot of different things and share as that way everyone gets to try a bit of everything. I can sometimes be quite a fussy eater so when they started ordering things like octopus and rabo de toro (bull’s tail) I started to worry. However, due to some peer pressure I caved and tried everything – which I’m so glad I did as all the food was honestly amazing. My favourites were definitely the mushroom croquettas, patatas bravas (not your typical bravas but instead potatoes with bacon and fried egg) and the rabo de toro. When in Spain!

To relax after our ‘tough’ week at work, Nicole and I decided to go to the beach on Friday. It was amazing to just lie and relax in the sun and reflect on our week.

To sum up, I had such an enjoyable week and I’m surprised that I enjoyed school as much as I did. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I’m so happy and I think I’ll have so much fun at work this year.

¡Gracias por leer y hasta pronto!

GALLIVANTING IN GRANADA

Last weekend I went on an Erasmus trip to the beautiful city of Granada! This city had been on my list of must see places to visit this year so when the opportunity came up to go for such a low price (85€ for transport, accommodation, ticket into La Alhambra and entry into a nightclub) and meet other international students I jumped at it.

The journey from Murcia to Granada is usually around 3 hours. However, in typical Spanish style, the bus left 45 minutes late and we took a half an hour stop half way through so we arrived much later than what it had said on the schedule. I have come to realise that most things do not happen at the arranged time here in Spain. Everything is relaxed and laid back so punctuality isn’t a strong point here.

Upon checking into our hostel, we were starving so decided to go to the Mercadona (a Spanish supermarket) to get bread, cheese and meat for sandwiches before heading off to la Alhambra. Of course, this was very cheap and I think my purchase came to 1.69€. I am still trying to get used to how cheap some food items are in the supermarkets!

La Alhambra is a palace and fortress from which you can see a view of the whole city of Granada as it is situated on top of a hill called al-Sabika. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most visited monuments in Spain. Most people visit la Alhambra to see the Palacio Nazaríes and we were no different. However, upon our arrival we were told that our ticket did not include entrance into this part and that you needed to book a ticket 3 months in advance to get in. It goes without saying that we were disappointed and a lot of people who were on the trip complained about this as we hadn’t been told previously that we wouldn’t be able to visit this part.

That being said, the other parts and the gardens of la Alhambra were beautiful and it definitely is a must see place if you are in Granada. The views from the towers are amazing! As you are so high up you literally can see everything and the little white buildings that Andalucía is famous for look incredible from such a height.

After our visit to la Alhambra it was time for some food and drinks. Most people opted to get taxis and a bus down to the city but we decided to walk and I’m so glad that we did! The walk down was really nice and as we were coming into the city we walked down a little cobble stoned street which was lined with little knick-knack shops. While most of them did sell a lot of tat, some also sold glass Granada style lamps which were beautiful.

Finding somewhere to eat proved quite difficult. Due to it being a Saturday, most places were very busy. As well as that, we were in a touristy area so the majority of restaurants were quite pricey. We settled on a place that sold tapas and typical Spanish food. It turned out that they had a meat paella on as a special so the majority of us opted for that. The paella was delicious but I wasn’t entirely sure what the meat was so left most of the meat.

After dinner, the schedule said we were due to go to the Mirador de San Nicolas which is essentially a viewing point. It is opposite la Alhambra so from here you get a great view of la Alhambra as well as a view of the other side of the city. The walk up to the mirador was difficult to say the least as it was all uphill. Some of the little streets were so steep and the amount of houses on said streets was unbelievable. The people that lived there would certainly have a hike and a half to get anywhere they needed to go!

When we got up to the mirador, it turned out that there was a little fundraising event being held for the scouts. There was some live entertainment and a bar serving drinks. The atmosphere was buzzing and it was lovely to spend the evening there.

Thankfully, the walk down was much easier than the walk up and as we were walking down the sun was starting to set. There had been the option to get a taxi but again I was so glad we decided to walk as the views of the sun setting over the city were breath-taking.

The next part of our evening really isn’t worth talking about. The nightclub (or discoteca) that we went to left a lot to be desired and it was disappointing to say the least. We tried to make the most of our night but by half 3 we admitted defeat and headed home. By this stage we were all quite hungry and all I could think about were cheese chips with loads of red sauce from the chippy (if you know, you know). As you can imagine, this was completely unrealistic. I settled for chips and spicy sauce from a kebab shop and let me tell you – spicy doesn’t even cut it when it comes to describing this sauce. I like spicy food but this took it to the next level.

The next day we were supposed to go on a walking tour of the city but we slept in instead. I’d say most of the people on the trip gave it a miss after being out so late the previous night. When we eventually got up and checked out of the hostel we went in search of breakfast. On our way into the city we found a little café called Siete Gatos which was brilliant. We all decided on tostadas con tomate (half a toasted baguette with tomato AKA the best breakfast food ever) and smoothies which really hit the spot.

Following this, we just took a wander through the city’s little streets with no real aim of seeing anything in particular. If we came across something interesting, it was a bonus. While we were on our walk we found a park with some pretty fountains as well as the cathedral. By this time, it was the hottest part of the day and we were crying out for some shade. We decided to get some ice lollies and sit on the steps in front of the cathedral which thankfully were in the shade.

In the little square in front of the cathedral there were some street performers which created a relaxed atmosphere. It was so nice to just sit and soak it all in. At 3 o’clock we noticed that the doors to the cathedral were open and we were going to go in until we noticed the queue that was halfway down the street! We chose to give it a miss but put it on our list for the next time we visit.

Soon, we were on our way back to Murcia which, like the journey to Granada, ended up taking about 4 hours. Although I had a great time in Granada, I probably wouldn’t go on another Erasmus trip like this. It seemed like it would be organised and the group would spend a lot of time together getting to know each other but it was much the opposite. It was badly organised and nothing ran on time like as planned in the schedule.

That being said, I definitely want to return to Granada to see the Palacio Nazaríes and the inside of the cathedral. I have been told that Granada is incredible in the winter as it often snows due to it being so high up in the mountains. There is also a ski resort not far from Granada so a ski trip might be on the cards too!

¡Gracias por leer y hasta pronto!