My Experiences

November 1, 2019

Preparing for the trip of a lifetime...

I am so excited to leave for Spain in less than two weeks! I keep getting asked if I speak Spanish, unfortunately I do not. In preparation for this trip I have tried to use Duolingo, but so far I have had a hard time retaining the information. Knowing that the children speak fluent English is incredible!

Traveling throughout Europe is going to be sensational! So far, I have planned to meet my husband in Paris for my birthday weekend. The flights and hotel are booked; December 6, can't come soon enough! Our group plans to explore Spain during the week and travel throughout Europe on the weekends. So far we have researched cities like Milan, Rome, Switzerland, Madrid, Amsterdam and Berlin. We have to narrow it down when we get a better idea of our schedules.

Seeing the education system in another country will be amazing. I will be student teaching at RMSI (Colegio Real Monasterio de Santa Isabel). My research of the school shows it to be a Catholic charter school founded in 1946. I am excited to meet the teacher and students I will be working with.

I have also picked out a Kentucky coffee mug and gifts for them children of my host family. The two boys are 6 and 8 years old and love Legos and Beyblades. Perhaps they are not so different from American children after all. At least having a host family will help with missing my own children!

November 11, 2019

First impressions...

Yesterday was my first day teaching in Barcelona! I am usually with second grade girls at RMSI (which is a trilingual Catholic School, that serves students from kindergarten all the way through higher secondary). It is much different than the schools in America. The boys and girls are separated in all classrooms. The rules are much more relaxed, and the students have more freedom to talk and walk around in the classroom. The hallways are loud and bustling and they sound more like an American playground than a school. Instead of the students switching classes the teachers switch. I have found that it creates a very busy schedule for a teacher!

At home, students call me Mrs. Poston but here they call me Mrs. Mary. They were very suprised to learn that our students don't usually take a foreign language until high school. The students speak Spanish, Catalan, and English. Even in second grade English class they are expected to only speak English. They are very skilled at it and very easy to understand. They thought it was quite amusing to hear me trying to say their names! I read a WKU book to the students, and they have since been going around chanting, "Go Big Red!" They were very excited to get to know their American teacher.

We have gone out to explore once but we didn't get to do very much. So far, my impression of the city is a positive one. The people have been kind and welcoming, and I feel very safe. Anywhere you go you can find someone that speaks fluent English. The city is much bigger than any Kentucky city and consists of over 5.5 million people. It is a little overwhelming, but I am excited to get out and explore. One of the biggest differences for me is that people rarely use cars. There is a public transportation system made up of trains and buses. You can get anywhere you want in the city very cheaply and quickly. Most of the time they are crowded, so you usually have to stand. It took us a bit to figure them out, but we have it down now!

Today, we are getting out to really explore the city and eat at a local restaurant. Stay tuned to hear about our adventures in Barcelona!

November 14, 2019

A couple of days ago we did some sight-seeing in Barcelona. We decided to go shop, eat, and visit one of Antonio Gaudi's buildings. We first went to eat at a restaurant called Mauri. It had an outdoor eating area with heaters to keep us warm. It felt very European!

We did some shopping (mostly window shopping) and my friends replaced some items they forgot at H&M. It was much more expensive than their American store. We then walked around and saw Gaudi's famous La Pedrerah (Casa Mila). It was absolutely beautiful!

School and tutoring has kept us busy, but we have a book full of sights we are going to visit in the next few weeks!

Gaudi's La Pedrerah

November 25, 2019

Cultural Treasures in Europe...

This past weekend we took a weekend trip to Rome. One of the host mom's drove us to the airport so we wouldn't have to get a taxi. Once we arrived, the group decided they wanted to eat at the TGI Friday's in the Barcelona airport. Everyone had been missing American food! We were a couple of hours early, so we relaxed and chatted for awhile. All of a sudden I remembered that the gate closed prior to boarding! We took off running through the airport like frantic tourists! Of course I couldn't keep up with the young people, so I just started walking. I didn't think a three minute difference, in arriving at the gate, was going to matter. Then my phone rang, it was Savannah, out of breath, and yelling that if I wasn't there in one minute they were not letting us go! So, I took off running. Suddenly, a stranger yelled that I had dropped something!! I stopped to see what it was (I could not lose my passport!) When I saw my scarf laying in heap in the middle of the almost empty terminal, I breathlessly told him it was okay, and ran on. All of a sudden Savannah came running at me, grabbed my ticket and ran back to the counter. I followed, close behind, and we boarded just as they closed the doors! We had almost missed our flight to Rome because we were hanging out at TGI Fridays! We later joked that it felt like we were running a Relay Race in elementary school.

We had an enjoyable flight. We landed in Italy and rushed to the bathrooms as soon as we got off the plane. We then left the airport in search of the train. We soon realized that the train was closed, so we went out to where taxi's were parked. As soon as we left the doors, I realized I forgot my phone in the bathroom. We tried to get back through, but the doors were locked! I was frantic! We all stood outside the automated doors until someone walked out. We ran back into the airport before anyone could stop us! At this point my group knew we had much better odds if one of the younger girls ran to get my phone. Haley took off running as fast as she could. Suddenly an Italian guard was yelling something at us, which I can only assume was STOP! Haley was long gone and I was panicking! Savannah used Google Translate to tell the guard what happened. The guard nodded her head but she didn't look happy about it! Just then Haley came running through the airport with my phone in her hand! I am not sure how this story would have turned out if it had happened in the U.S.!

Sixty-five euros later, we arrived close to our AirBnB. The driver told us he could not take us any further because of the narrow streets. We found our apartment pretty easily and settled in to sleep. The next morning we went out to explore Rome. We first visited The Vatican, St. Peter's Bascilla, and the Sistine Chapel. Then, we bought some street souvenirs, and ate at a little Italian Cafe near the Vatican City. We started of with Bruschetta and then I got Chicken Marsala. It was amazing! The rain had held off all day but we had our umbrellas just in case. We tried to look up a route to take us to the Trevi Fountain. Not many people spoke English, so we had to ask many people for help. Finally, we found someone that spoke a little Spanish and a little English. Between Google Translate and Savannah's Spanish skills we finally found our way to the fountain. It was even more amazing than we had imagined. Legend has it, that if you throw a coin in, you will someday return to Rome. We all threw a coin in and enjoyed the fountains beauty.

As we headed down the street toward our apartment, the rain unleashed on us! We ducked into a cafe to grab a cup of coffee, but as soon as the rain let up, we were on our way. Both Savannah and Haley were sick so we found a pharmacy. The pharmacist spoke English and helped us pick out medicine. The two of them hung in there and did everything we had planned!

On our way home, we were stopped by a man in the street. He asked us to hold out our hand, we refused and asked him to back away. He grew angry and started yelling. We noticed he had another man with him who had walked around behind us. We left, afraid that we were about to get robbed. We ducked into a small store and talked to the workers there until we were sure he was gone. We were glad to be traveling as a group! We ran through the pouring rain to our apartment. We rested for the rest of the night and headed out the next morning to shop and see the Coliseum before we flew back to Spain. We made sure we were at the airport early so we didn't miss our flight.

To say Rome was amazing and memorable would be an understatement!

November 27, 2019

Teaching the girls...

Yesterday, my teacher was asked to help with a play for the first two classes. She asked me to teach her English and Science classes for her. I have only been at the school for a little over a week and I had only helped the girls with English, taught a couple of classes after I watched her teach them, and taught them with a substitute in the room. These girls are quite intelligent so I was confident I could jump in and take over.

I picked the girls up at the playground at 9 am. We walked to the classroom, and I stood at the door and told each of them good morning (just as I had seen their own teacher do. They proceeded to enter the classroom and go wild. The school is much more laid back than American Schools. I realized stopping and waiting wasn't going to get their attention. I clapped my hands and told them we were going to try some techniques that we use in American schools. They were very interested. I put a timer on my phone and told them they had two minutes to unpack and sit down. When the timer went off they were to be seated. It worked! Then, I raised my arm in the air. I instructed them to do the same if they saw my arm go up. I also told them if their arm was up, their lips were closed. We practiced a few times until they got the hang of it. I drew a girl on the board (it is an all girls class) I told them every time they did something they weren't supposed to I was going to erase part of her. If I erased all of the girl, they were going to lose part of recess.

Anytime I raised my hand they would nudge each other until everyone was quiet and had their hand raised. I refused to go on unless everyone was quiet. By the end of class, they grew quiet very quickly.

This morning, when I was asked to take the class again, the first thing they did was ask me to draw the girl on the board and see if they could keep her whole. (I had to erase an arm but compared to the day before that was amazing.) I made sure to tell them how proud I was. They were very excited they had done so well.

My classroom teacher has been so helpful in encouraging me to teach and assuring me I was doing well. She has an amazing relationship with the girls and that has helped foster my own relationship with them.

December 3, 2019

Cultural treasures in Barcelona...

This past weekend we got to see the city of Barcelona in the daylight. Due to our school schedule and our tutoring hours, we stay busy for most of the day. Both my teacher, and one of my friend's host mom made us any itinerary. We met for breakfast at a small cafe, and took the train from there. The first thing we decided to do was head to the beach. Barceloneta Beach was beautiful! The sea was a bright blue and there were sailboats everywhere. The one downside, was the number of street vendors trying to peddle their souvenirs. They did not want to take no for an answer. They would follow at our heels until we finally told them to leave us alone. We stopped to have Tapas (appetizers) at a open air beachfront restaurant. Then we walked around the beach.

When we left the beach, we headed to the old town. We saw beautiful old buildings, a cathedral and wonderful little shops that lined the streets. It was so fun to walk about, enjoying the Christmas lights, the music, good food and shopping.

Next, we decided to go see the number one tourist attraction in Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia. Construction began in 1882, under architect, Francisco de Paula del Villar. The next year famed architect Antonio Gaudi took over. It remains under construction to this day! Gaudi worked on it until his death and was then buried in the crypt, on the grounds. Sagrada Familia is the largest church I have ever seen! The details in the building are amazing, and even though the sun was going down, the care taken to erect such a structure was obvious. Near the cathedral was a Christmas festival. We walked about enjoying the music, food, and vendors.

The last thing we went to was the Magic Fountain. We timed it perfectly and arrived just as the music started. The arrival to the fountain is grand; the streets were lined with fountains long before you arrived to it. The fountain was astronomical! There was a staircase leading up to it, but by the time we arrived it was so packed, we could barely get through. The song and light show was amazing! Once we left the fountain, we watched a group of street performers singing and dancing for money. Their talent was amazing! One thing I have noticed... when there is a public gathering and their is music playing, it is almost always popular American music. When we were at the festival, the fountain, and watching the street performers, all of the music was American.

The next day we went to Park Guell. It was on top of the mountain, so it was quite a walk! The park was constructed in 1900 and was designed by the famous architect, Gaudi, for a friend of his, Eusebi Guell. (I have talked about him in my earlier posts.) It was origionally designed to encompass estates for the wealthy, with views of the city and the sea. Guell wanted it to look like the wealthy British estates he had visited, so he gave it the English name, Park Guell. It was definitely the most beautiful place to view Barcelona, that I have visited.

Lastly, we walked La Rambla, one of the most famous streets in Barcelona to do some shopping. I found some Christmas gifts for the kids and a few things for myself. :) Between Park Guell and La Rambla, we walked over 10 miles, Sunday!

December 9, 2019

Cultural Treasures in Paris...

This past weekend I traveled to Paris, France to meet my husband for the long weekend. The city was in some political turmoil, so many things were closed in anticipation of violence. The first thing we did after checking into our hotel, was head to the Eiffel Tower. It was beautiful! I had always wanted to go, so actually being there was amazing.

My other favorite place we went, was the Louvre. Some people say that seeing the Mona Lisa in person is underwhelming. I did not think so. I was seeing a piece of history that I had only read about in books. The Louvre is so large that you could spend 100 days there, with no eat and sleep, and still not see everything! While we saw many exhibits (Roman, Greek and Egyptian, but we barely scratched the surface!

Another big cultural difference in France is the food. Since I have arrived in Europe I have had a chance to get used to the difference in the food. My husband got a taste of how much we Americanize every dish from other countries. One time. he went to the restroom to wash his hands, so he told me to order whatever. I asked for a recommendation, when he brought it out, it was raw beef with a raw egg on top! I had to at least try it... it was pretty good, but it was just the thought of raw meat. The pastries were amazing, and you could find them on every street. My favorite thing about the restaurants was that they all had an outside area. Since it was so cold, every restaurant had multiple outside heaters. It truly brought your eating experience and the life on the streets together.