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| Off to Barcelona, Spain from Nashville Airport! |
I’ve arrived! Two days ago I arrived in Barcelona, Spain! The city is absolutely beautiful and my host family is everything that I could have asked for. Upon arriving in the city, I was immediately experiencing major culture shock.
Everything here in Spain is far different than that in America. Everything is very loud and sometimes rather hectic. People often eat seafood as their main course for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (I am not a fan of seafood) And while the schools are very welcoming, they are also very different than the typical American school that I have previously been exposed to. School lunches are an hour and a half long, it ends later in the afternoon, AND the teachers travel around the school to the students without having their own “classroom.”
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| Me in front of my new school, Colegio Real Monasterio de Santa Isabel |
The community is very friendly and safe. Everything is within close distance and easily accessible for all of us. In fact, the school is a short fifteen minute walk from my host family´s flat (or apartment). It is so interesting to see the varying architecture that surrounds the city and school. I cannot wait to begin exploring more around the city of Barcelona and beyond. On the day of our arrival, it was a special day here, St. George's Day! Similar to Valentine's Day in America, this holiday is a special day when kids are out of typical class and men buy roses for women and in return, the women buy books for the men. As a welcome present, my host family purchased a book for me which showed the beautiful city of Barcelona!
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| My bedroom for my stay in Barcelona |
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| The living room of my host family's flat |
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| My host family got a book of the city for St. George's Day! |
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| St. George's Day booths were everywhere on the streets of Spain |
In regards to my first impressions of the school environment, everything is extremely loud and somewhat out of control; however, this is apparently a part of their culture. I am interested to discover the ways in which the classroom continues to operate throughout the week, as they do not have a set daily schedule. Instead, each class has a different schedule everyday, that then repeats the following week. The students are split boys and girls and the school is HUGE!
Within the school is a work out facility, swimming pool, multiple basketball courts, footbul area (patio), a chapel, auditorium, a courtyard, numerous classrooms, and administrative office spaces. When we were shown the athletic facilities I was completely blown away!
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| School Gym |
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| Workout facility |
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| Patio Area (footbol field) |
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| Swimming pool |
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| Courtyard area |
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| School |
As a semi-private catholic school, instruction is offered for grades Pre K-12 grade, very different from that of your traditional elementary, middle and high schools in America. With that being said, I am currently student teaching within a second grade male classroom. Which leads into something rather interesting. The teacher that I am currently student teaching, Mr. Rodd, completed a teaching position in Nicholasville, Kentucky, at a school which is right beside my house.
It truly is crazy to see how extremely small the world truly is. I think it is absolutely amazing that I am getting the opportunity to work alongside someone who understands where I come from and the difficult transition that can come with teaching in American schools, versus those here in Spain.
I look forward to the amazing experiences that are to come through teaching here in Spain. I cannot wait to share my journey with you along the way. Now off to Paris, France for the weekend, until next time!
P.S. I have attached some pictures of some AMAZING sweets that I have completed eaten too much of... enjoy!
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| WKU Barcelona Student Teachers; Spring 2019 |
