"Machu Picchu"

Most of the people I talked to this week met the following criteria:
- Spoke little English
- Had wide, brown, smiling eyes
- Owned a rolling book bag (decorated with Hello Kitty, the Jonas Brothers or Spiderman)
- Came up to about my waist

I'm obviously describing the students at my two assigned primary schools, General Izquierdo and Ramon Gomez de la Serna. These children truly brighten my day. When I walk into school, the students who recognize me say, "Hello, Debon," and those who don't simply wave. When I walk down the halls, groups of children hug me until some grumpy lunch lady in a hairnet scolds them and shoos them into the cafeteria. In the classroom, they listen in complete silence as I read aloud and laugh when I swear to them that "I don't understand ANY Spanish." Yeah, right. They're smarter than that.

I realize I'm in a unique position because I'm getting teaching experience without the trials of a normal teacher. I don't have to scream for silence, give students The Face (duh duh duuuh) or send a child to the headmaster's office. I don't grade papers in the break room and take the unfinished ones home. I'm not "the teacher". I'm that cool chick from the United States.

When I talk with a student, I am supposed to go through a simple routine to get the student accustomed to conversational English. It usually goes something like this:

"Hello! My name is Devon. What is your name?"
(shyly) "My name is Paula/Javier."
(nodding) "Very good Paula/Javier. Nice to meet you!"
"Machu Picchu, too."

The first time this happened, I almost lost it. Machu Picchu? That place I visited in the fall? Adorable. Another trick they've been taught is to always say, "I'm doing fine, thank you, and you?" They often say this phrase, though, after I've already told them how I'm doing. Their responses can be awkward, too. ("How are you today, Javier?" Stony-faced: "Fantastic." Yeah, okay, Javier.) Hopefully, they'll have enough conversations with me during the next year that they'll fall into a more natural conversational pattern.

So far, I'm really enjoying my time at school. Some of my first memories are learning the alphabet and the joy of putting the scribbles together to form words with meaning. S-T-O-P. Stop. That chain of connections which makes communication possible is a magical thing to me, just as much today as it was when I was in preschool. Therefore, I absolutely love the moment when a first grader realizes the label that says "table" is the word for the object. What's really cool is seeing them have this realization a second time, in English. Sometimes they get into a session of pointing and asking, "What is this in English? And this?" The excitement I feel in passing this knowledge on is making me wonder if I'm going to end up teaching...

Sometimes, though, I get so excited, the kids look at me funny. I usually meet with pairs at the back of the classroom to go over recent vocabulary. While talking, I gesticulate, make funny faces and change the tone of my voice to help them learn. They usually understand me better this way, but that doesn't stop them from laughing at me. On Thursday, two third grader boys kept giggling while we were discussing the different types of vertebrates. They finally said, together, "You're a crazy woman." I grinned and thanked them. Of course, they laughed even harder. When I left the classroom at the end of the session, they waved extra hard from their desks and shouted, "Viviparous!" At least I did something right.

I wish I had pictures to post of me with the kids, but since I'm not using my own laptop, that will have to wait. Now, I'm off to look up train tickets for Murcia. After a extra-rough first week at school (sigh), I have a five-day weekend. I visited Toledo yesterday, and now I'm off again! I'll write about these adventures soon!