Storms, stairs and sleep!

I can't believe a week has passed since we set off on our journey - starting in Kent. A pleasant 3 hour journey on a train turned into an epic mission by train, taxi and car, to finally reach the venue 13 hours later! It was lovely to finally see our group in person and get to know each other a bit before setting off. We then had a long but fun day training on Saturday, followed by a very short sleep in order to catch the bus to the airport at 4am! Thankfully the journey from that point ran a bit more smoothly, and 12 hours later we were dropped at our flat - excited to see where we'd be living for the next month. Luckily 2 gallant gentleman in our group offered to help carry our bags up the stairs, as our apartment was on the 6th floor. The last flight were a rickety set of wooden steps which were tricky to manoeuvre even without a massive suitcase. However on exploring the flat it didn't take the three of us long to discover we were missing a bedroom! Anyway to cut a long story short we eventually managed to move to a new apartment with enough bedrooms to avoid Sarah Jane having to sleep in the kitchen  - so that made us all very happy! Our new flat is also a 10 minute walk to school, rather than a 90 minute commute, making the whole experience a lot more manageable! 

So, after enduring storms, stairs and lack of sleep we finally arrived at school. There had been so many questions....What should we wear? What will our tutor be like? What age groups will we be teaching? What will the students be like? Can I remember how to teach? The greeting on arrival made all my anxieties disappear in a flash. The school had a wonderful welcoming atmosphere, where the staff described themselves as being more like family than colleagues. And the dress code was really relaxed, smart jeans, trainers and a top were absolutely fine. Phew! At least I didn't have to go shopping!!!

My tutor Anais has been fantastic. My first day was a full day  starting at 8:50 and ending at 16:50. I got thrown straight in, teaching sections of the classes and of course answering lots of questions from the students. I am working in the Secondary section of the school (Colegio San Bartolomé) which has around 300 students. 

I'm teaching all age groups from 1 ESO to 2 BATX. They are fab - really energetic and engaged (most of the time!), and after some initial shyness, very willing to share their opinions and ideas in class. Unfortunately my school is coming to the end of term and the students are having to do a lot of exams. Therefore it's not possible to teach every lesson  - but I've been helping Anais mark writing exercises during exams, which has been a really good experience in itself. 

So here we are, at the end of week 1 already. It's been a bit of a bumpy road this week, but I'm glad things are starting to run a bit more smoothly, and am looking forward to the rest of the placement. I've no doubt that it will pass in a flash, so am going to make the most of every minute!

Socially we've been to tired and busy to do much this week, so I'm looking forward to meeting up with the other Valencionites this evening, and hearing about their experiences. Sarah Jane also booked us into a yoga class yesterday which was amazing. I can understand a bit of Spanish - but yoga has a universal language - so it was pretty easy to follow (with a bit of help from SJ). The yoga teacher was also so friendly and welcoming - I can see it's going to be a very welcome chance to relax and rejuvenate each week.