I’m not too sure where to start. The first two days have been fun, exciting, crazy, and exhausting all at the same time. After over 14 hours of traveling, I arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday morning. My host mom, Patricia, helped me get settled in my new home and gave me a mini tour of the city. All the WKU student teachers had a brief orientation and reception at the school later that day. I spent my first night in Spain trying new food at dinner (I liked all of it), getting to know all 5 of my host siblings, Guillermo, Alejandra, Iñaki, Jorge, and Pablo, and catching up on some major sleep.
The School in Spain goes from 9-5 with a long lunch and two recesses. The students use English in science and English class. They also speak Spanish and Catalan in their other classes. The school, Colegio Reial Monestir de Santa Isabel, is a beautiful building and has students from 1-18 years old. I will be teaching 4th grade boys English and science.
Today (Wednesday) I started my first day as a student teacher in Barcelona. Luckily the school is less than a 5 minute walk from my apartment, and my host brothers go there. Today was Saint George day, which is a special day full of celebrations in Barcelona. At school the students made fun crafts, watched plays and dances, got their faces painted, and performed to celebrate. The streets were packed with vendors selling roses and books. It is a tradition that boys give girls a rose and girls give boys a book on this day. My host dad, Nacho, brought a rose home for his wife, daughter, the nanny, and myself. After school I played basketball with Guillermo and Iñaki, Jorge and Pablo danced around the living room with harmonicas, and Alejandra had horseback riding class.
The first two days of this journey are in the books. I’m so excited to get to know my host family and students, live in Barcelona, and travel to Italy and Ireland!
Teaching in Barcelona 