Wednesday, October 3, 2012

My last month in Spain

A perfect example of a productive classroom... someone lying on the floor, somebody getting dressed up, ONE child doing their work, but being attacked by colored pencils being thrown across the room... just another Wednesday morning with my 4 years olds.... :)

My 4 year olds gettin crazyyyyyy!

Totally part of the lesson plan....

My 3rd graders

Right outside my school

My 2nd graders

My 4 year olds

My 4th graders

One of my 5th grade classes

Out to dinner with Alex & Laura!

Right next to my bus stop to school in Sevilla




On my walk home from school

Cordoba

Alex and the ladies dressed up for Cordoba's Feria

Laura & Carlos in Cordoba

Streets of Cordoba

A Patio in Cordoba

The sky in Andalucia

Street by my house in Sevilla

Alex & Dana out on the town in Sevilla

Borja workin hard at our favorite spot!

My best buddy!

My other 2nd grade class

Yea... they wanted my autograph...

My favorite student, Marina

My favorite class, my 5th graders!

My 3rd graders gave me flowers on my last day!

My intercambios Joaquin & Cari

My roommates took me to the airport to send me off! They were fantastic roommates and I was so lucky to have found them!  It was a sad goodbye!
My Spanish Goodbye Party! 
After returning from London, I stayed really busy until I left on June 2.  I had many of my final classes with my kiddos, went on a field trip to the Plaza de España with some of my kids, had a visit from my friend Laura for my last 2 weeks, went on our own field trip to Cordoba, lots of packing, and a goodbye Spain party.  Above is a kind of whirlwind of pictures of my last moments.  All my kiddos and Spanish friends sure made me smile, and now that I have been gone 4 months, I sure do miss them!!!! I am so grateful to have had this experience

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

London, England

"the TUBE"

Change of the Mounted Guard




AWFUL Outfits


Changing of the Guard



Sunday Roast

M&M Factory

Westminster Abbey


Relaxing in Kew Gardens

Asian section of Kew Gardens

Out for pints!

British Museum

Mexican exhibit


London Eye

London Bridge


My good friend Marine (another friend of mine from France) wanted to see me one last time before I left Europe so we decided to meet up in London.  She is living in Germany right now and I am in Spain, so London was a good meeting place for us.  So on May 5, I went to meet her at the London Gatwick airport. Unfortunately, this airport was an hour and a half outside of town, but it was worth it for the price to fly in to it.  When we got in to London, we took the metro, or "the tube" or "the underground", to our hostel that we had reserved previously.  Marine hadn't told me before, but she had a friend that lived in the center of London that had couches we could sleep on but she didn't know she was going to be in town.  After we arrived at the sketchy hostel very far outside from the center, we took one look at the room and decided to spend the time going back in to the center to stay with her friend Laurence.  When we got to her apartment, Laurence wanted to go to her friend's party, so we did.  It was all French people so I didn't understand anybody and I was exhausted, but it was ok.   The next day we went to the Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the Guard (both Mounted -horses- and regular).  The regular changing of the guard was really surprising because the band was playing songs like "Cry Me a River" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".  Very strange for an official royal ceremony, right?  The hats and the shuffling of feet were funny and so I'm really glad we went to that.  After that, we went to a pub and I had something very typical which was a "Sunday Roast".  It had potatoes, roast beef, broccoli, carrots, and a bread type something called "pudding".  It was delicious! After lunch we went to the M&M Factory which was childlike fun and very similar to the one in NYC.  We then went to the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, which I loved!  All the flowers and trees were relaxing and beautiful, although London hadn't quite gotten the memo yet that it was Spring.  That evening Laurence wanted to go out to the bar so she had some friends over and we went to a bar where we danced a little and had some drinks.  The next day Marine and I got Starbucks Chai Teas and then went to the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta Stone and a really cool Mexican exhibit with turquoise masks that I thought were really cool.  There was also an exhibit on how much medication an average person takes in their lifetime which was pretty interesting.  We then walked along the river and saw the London Eye, but didn't go up in it.  It was on and off raining.  We grabbed some lunch at a pub called "The Hole in the Wall" and I had some fish in chips.  We went to the Tate Modern Museum, but a lot of the exhibits you had to pay, but the part that was free was fun.  It is the largest collection of Modern Art in the world.  We were running out of time so we rushed to the Tower of London.  Honestly it was a bit of a disappointment because it is known as a place of torture, but that part of it was closed.  However, we did wee the crown jewels which were pretty.  Afterwards, we went to the area of London where all the Indian restaurants are and we ate at a place called Aladin.  Marine ordered the spiciest thing on the menu... and survived! What a champion! I enjoyed my much milder food and then we went back to Laurence's apartment to hand out with her and her boyfriend and roommate for a bit.  The next day we went to Notting Hill area to have brunch with another one of Marine's friends.  We had a typical English breakfast of toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, and baked beans.  It was AWESOME!  That was the end of my London adventure!!! Honestly it wasn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be and I really enjoyed it!