Hola todos!
Sorry it's been awhile since I've written- I'm in the process of getting used to my new schedule. Also, I'm sorry that i cannot share any pictures with you- it seems that part of the attachment to connect my camera with my laptop got bent and doesn't fit in the hole. (sorry dad.) but i plan on going to a computer guy at my school tomorrow to resolve the issue. i promise i will put up pictures as soon as possible, as I have many....

school is going good. i love all of my co-workers- they are all so nice and friendly and know my name (although i don't know all of theirs- there are 82 teachers in the school!) and talk to me about my experiences, etc. i assist in the classes of 5 teachers: Mila (an extremely nice Basque woman), Toni (a really young guy who is super nice), Jorge (the first professor i met, also very young), Lola (a really cool Andalucian lady) and Elena (a Galician lady who i don't know very well yet). The rest of my time is spent working with teachers. They say that I am supposedly supposed to help them work on computer science curriculum, but all i do for that hour is help the teachers with their english.

regarding the students: this is how it works: students are divided up in to sections A-G. A is the smartest group of students, and G is the "worst" group of students. Each section is made up of roughly 25 students, and they take every class together. I have students off all sections, from A-G. It is quite surpising how different each group is. The A and B's are soooooooooo excited to learn english. Last week when they were learning about family members, I brought pictures of my family (only the Miller side, since the Copeland side is a little too complicated for beginning English learners:)) and made a family tree on the board. they were all so fascinated, asking so many questions. the next day in class (when I was not there- i'm only in each class once a week) the students asked if they could make family trees and bring them to class-aka volunteer homework! so they all made them and showed them to me yesterday. it was so precious!

although the G section is just as enthusiastic about having me there, they are much rowdier and have a much harder time remembering anything in english. in this class i have to use a combination of spanish and english in order to connect with them. this group is also more adult- i see 12 year olds with lip piercings, tattoes. the most shocking is when i saw 2 of my 12 year old students smoking a cigarette outside of school. My co-worker, Lola, told me that this group is made up of children who have a bad family life and/or have mental disabilities. I wonder about the social ramifications that this grouping has on the students- students being sectioned off into "good" and "bad" groups. These are just my first reactions, however.....

I have picked up a few side jobs:

- i babysit for a 7 month old girl named Berta. She is soooooo cute and she has really taken a liking to me. Whenever I walk into the room she starts smiling and jumping up and down. I am the first babysitter she has ever had. I take her for 3 hours a day, 3 days a week. Her parents work inside the house, so I basically take her outside and walk her around for 3 hours. great exercise, but i'll tell ya something- Seville is NOT made for strollers. Regardless, I've spent may a-hour discovering new, tiny, winding streets. i think i've found about 20 different ways of getting myself home within the past month!!!!!!!!

-i am a converation parter for a fellow teacher- Rafa. He has really really good english, but he just needs someone to practice conversation. today was his first lesson with me. we talking about what i thought about the war (ha! don't even get me started!) it was fun, and the hour flew by.

-i will be teaching my boss (almudena's) 2 ADORABLE kids english for one hour a week. One of her 10-year old sons (Alvaro) is in my English 1-B class (first year, very good children). He is SOOOOOOO cute and he is so excited to learn! I will be teaching him and his brother (who is one year younger than him) for 1 hour a week, on thursdays. I haven't started yet (Alvaro is sick) but I plan on working to expland their vocabulary more than the average public school student recieves. i plan on first working about animals, since all kids love animals. i think the key to teaching kids is to keep it in their area of interest.
-side note on Almudena: wow, could I have I cooler boss? I think not! She is a beautiful, short Spanish woman who speaks amazing English. She is the nicest person EVER (Maritheresa from CIEE and her are in a tie for nicest person in Seville). I was sick one day, and she called and emailed me because she was worried about me...in fact i've had 3 teachers do that. I LOVE my co-workers! okay, anyway, about almudena: i am so honored that she asked me to privately tutor her kids- she invited me to have lunch in her house when i give lessons every week so that is so cool......

-carmen, who is the daughter of Maritheresa, the director of CIEE Seville (and possibly the coolest woman alive). Maritheresa is american, but her husband is spanish, so they speak english in the house, but of course carmen is absolutely fluent in spanish. Every friday i take her out of her english class (which she is way too advanced for) and teach her myself. So this means that i prepare lessons for her, and assign her homework. pretty cool, huh?

i gotta say, I am really enjoying being a teacher/teaching assistant. i was first told by a teacher to be more or less serious with the students at first, but that's just not me. and i am myself with the kids- and i think they really enjoy it. It makes me feel so great when i walk through the halls and some of my kids gather around me and say "hello obriiiiiiiii!" they really are great kids.

what else?

right now, my IMS companion, Sarah Smith, is visiting. She came on Friday and stayed with me for the weekend, with plans to leave and discover other parts of Spain. But she became so enamored with Seville that she decided to stay here for the next feel weeks. I have had soooooo much fun with her- she is such a nice, sincere, really fun chica. I will be sad when she leaves!

anyway, i'm getting a bit tired- must rest and get ready for tomorrow's classes.

un beso,
aubree