I hope the water is warm

An official WOOHOO is much needed.

Today, I get my CTEFL...FINALLY. We all took the Grammar Exam (the final component of the course) yesterday, and I am pleased to report that I got a 94.5! I beat my score on the mock exam, which was the highest anyone had ever gotten - EVER. Gloat, gloat, gloat. I am pleased as pie.

However, one of the trainees unfortunately did not pass. He's re-taking the exam this morning, and several of us fellow trainees/students rallied together last night to help the guy study. I hope he passes. It won't feel right getting our certificates if he doesn't get one too. To come all this way and fail at this last stage...I think I might cry if they don't pass him. He's such a nice guy and a GOOD teacher. He really deserves to pass.

Anyway, it's been a while, so there is more news I suppose. I'm moving tomorrow into the "sister" hostal of the one I'm in now. My room is a bit pricier than I expected it would be, but there's a double bed and an outside view, plus a nice, big shower. It's far nicer than the other rooms that are available now, so I don't so much mind the increased rate. It's still cheaper than New Orleans! I will still be at the top of the hill in the Albayzin. My new place is right across from the Hostal Makuto, if you're familiar with the hostals in Granada. You can find Makuto on most hostal websites, and I am directly across Calle Tina from there. I think you can even google-map it.

Anyway, once I pack up all my shit here, I will move it over there and settle in. On Monday, I think I'll check the bus schedules and try to get up to Madrid to head to the U.S. Embassy. I need to get some documents notarized for the auto settlement so I'll have something to live on through these next few months, which should be tough ones b/c it's the low job season for TEFL teachers. I might spend the night in Madrid, if I can find a cheap hostal, and see the Prado or something.

Once I get back to Granada, I will begin the job hunt. I'm thinking I will post as many possible ads for private tutoring as I can. That's where my heart really is - the 1:1 sessions with motivated students. Standing up in front of a class, day-in and day-out, doesn't really thrill me. I mean, I feel way more confident with it now, but I still prefer tutoring 1:1.

Anyway anyway...today we're supposed to have Paella as a little "party" for getting our certificates, then we're going out for tapas at 9pm with (hopefully) some of our students from the school - it depends on whether they actually show up or not, but most of them said they were coming.

Gotta go shower now. I hope the water is warm.

My TEFL, tis of thee I sing

The Via Lingua TEFL program - what do we think of when we see these words? Anybody?? Can you try to guess?

HELL??
Yes, that might be a word one would think of.

ANXIETY x10??
Yes, that might be a possible phrase.

FEAR, DREAD, LACK OF SELF CONFIDENCE, SLEEP and FOOD?
Why yes. These too might be possible.


Basically, the last 10 days of my life have been about preparing a lesson plan. I have shoveled more into my brain than I care to ever dig out again, although the point of getting it in there will be to later pull it all out through my ass and teach it to some non-native English speakers, which at that point should be all fine and dandy. But until then...my head hurts!!

But seriously. I think I've lost about 10 pounds. I don't have any food to eat for breakfast in the mornings and my classes go for 12 hours a day, so there's never any time to get any food let alone to eat it. Most of the time, it's just plain inconvenient to eat, with all the work I'm doing. So I don't. Some days, I have to go without showers or sacrifice a portion of the 4-5 hours of sleep I get per night. And that's nothing on the mental anguish of this course. I'm a wreck. I think we all are.


For those of you just tuning in, I'm taking the Via Lingua CTEFL certification course in Granada right now. I've just hit the middle of week 2, and I'm honestly surprised that all the things other ppl told me about how tough these courses were wasn't just bullshit. I thought, "Eh, no problem. I can handle it." But it's kicking all of our asses, and there's even a fellow trainee who might fail (already showing signs of defeat).

But on the positive side, I am learning an incredible amount about how to be a teacher. This is like a crash-course in what all those idiot education majors were doing in college, wasting away their lives teaching at a public school for university credit for an entire year. I'm packing all that into 4 WEEKS, and truly the difference in length of time has no relevance whatsoever when it comes to the quality of the experience. I will not only be a good teacher after this; I'll know I'm a good teacher. Scratch that - I'll know I'm a great teacher.

Anyway, that's just general stuff about how my days have been and where my head is lately. I could go way more into detail, but I'll spare you. I do want to impart that after a very crash-and-burn first lesson in practice teaching, I am now on my third lesson and it's all "clicking" for me. I'm on the verge of a perfect lesson and I can feel it. Only four more lessons to go before I have that piece of paper that will validate the past 5-6 years of my life. World of teaching/dreams coming true, here I come (oh wait, I'm already here).

How beautiful is it??

Ok, so at first I was travelling and didn't have my laptop or a dependable internet signal in order to post anything, but now here I am after my first two (twelve-hour) days of the TEFL course, and I'm bloody tired (picked up some new british expressions from my classmates) and have absolutely NO time in which to post anything.

However, I'm stopping from productivity and lesson planning and worrying about my first teaching session tomorrow to impart how absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous this country is, how warm and loving the ppl are, how delicious the food is (when you know how to ask for it and what to ask for...), and in general how you've all got to get your asses over here and experience it for yourself.

I love Europe. I don't know that I want to leave. Ever. I feel like I fit in here as a traveller, a lifelong student, a language teacher, and a human being. You find connections in the strangest placest, really, when you're not even looking for them.

The first pic from above is a view of the Calle Darro (a street which runs along the base of the hill on which sits the Alhambra), and the other is a view of the olive groves and amazing landscape from the train ride through Andalucia - we rode direct from Algeciras, through Ronda, and back to Granada for the weekend of Semana Santa. I don't know how I chose these two out of the 700+ photos I've taken so far, but they at least show how amazing the scenery is around here. There are so many other sides just of Granada, let alone the rest of Andalucia.

I think gradually, or maybe one night when I'm all caught up on my studies, I'll post a flickr page with all my pics for you all to see. Until then, they'll have to come in bits and bobs (british english, which is the standard my course is adhering to, by the by) by way of my blogspot.

HOLA, de Granada!!

Estoy en Madrid!!!

Jetlag was a bitch, but after the tapas dinner and 14 hours of sleep I got, my first official day in Madrid was amazing. I started with a cappuchino outside at a cafe, with flamenco guitar serenading me in a madrilño street pocket, got lost finding the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia but finally found and saw Guernica, ate paella and drank rioja for dinner, and now I´m off to try gelato or maybe churros y chocolate, depending on my mood. Not too shabby! And I think all I´ve spent today is about 30euros (Madrid is pricey).

Tomorrow, it´s off to Granada by bus. I overpacked, most definitely, and it is miserable lugging around all that stuff. Luckily, my friend Ann in Granada agreed to keep my three suitcases while I travel around Andalucia.

Also of note, I had crazy anxiety dreams while dozing in and out of jetlag sleep. Too much luggage, "What have I done?", and "Where the hell am I?!" were some of the themes. I never knew jetlag also brought with it a sense of depression. Good thing the majesty of Madrid counteracted all that!

BTW, London SUCKS (at least the airport, I mean...$50 for two hamburgers!! And they were SHITTY).

Pictures to come, once I figure out the wi-fi system. I have lots already!!

In these final hours

Just a quick note, this being my VERY LAST HOUR on my VERY LAST DAY of work!

Not that this is such a great thing. It would be different if I didn't actually like my job. The new firm (recently split from its other half) had a goodbye lunch for me today from Five Happiness (my favorite!).

How coincidental can you get?!????

Ok, so I asked around and nobody had read my Feb. 7 blog about wanting a surprise party. Well, SURPRISE!!

I got it. And I was quite embarrassed, too, but not as embarrassed as I'd have been, had everybody in fact read my blog. I feel like a big sissy pants for worrying.

Anyway, this picture sortof warmly captures the evening. There were a lot more ppl there than this - just about everyone was there that I wanted to see before I go - and I felt very special and loved. I now feel a little bit of closure on these past few years in New Orleans, which is all I really wanted in the first place.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Seriously. I leave NOLA a week from tomorrow.

For posterity's sake, I must impart that I haven't been sleeping well and, some nights, not at all. I can't seem to drift off until about midnight or 1:00am (I usually would be passed out around 10pm), and then I wake at ungodly hours for thirty minutes at a time, in between random panic dreams about losing luggage at the airport or terrorist attacks in Madrid or the roof caving in on my apartment while I'm trying to pack.

In short, it's crunch time. I haven't even moved all my shit to storage yet, and already I'm exhausted. This is so much of a mental pressure than a physical.

Tonight, I'm meeting with M. to book hostel, bus, museum, and train tickets in advance. We have about 14 days total to map out, and (in addition to all the other loose ends I have to tie up) I'm really feeling the weight of all that planning. I can't believe I waited this long to finalize so much, but I also can't beat myself up about that (my natural inclination). I'm taking things one day at a time, and hopefully my (restful) nights will come back to me. Is there such a thing as pre-trip jetlag?? If my sleeping situation doesn't straighten out quick, I will be in for a rough few days after we land in Madrid.

Since I haven't really mentioned my 2-week holiday with M. (before my course starts), here's the list of what he and I have to get figured out before we leave, organized by the Spanish cities we will visit and some of the things we will do in each:

Bookings

Madrid
Hostel (1 or 2 nights, 3/11, 3/12 depending on bus or train ride)
Storage Locker for luggage (or if too expensive, may opt for private budget hotel)
Metro Pass (1-2 days in Madrid)
Museum (advance ticket to Reina Sofia (Guernica) or pass to 3 museums)
Bus ticket to Granada

Granada
Hostel (1st stay: 3/13, 3/14, 3/15; 2nd stay: 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25, 3/26)
Metro/Bus Pass

Alhambra Tickets (3/14) *check travel books*
Bus ticket to Malaga (3/15)

Malaga
Hostel (1 night: 3/16)
Picasso Museum, Arabic Castle, Cathedral
Bus ticket to Ronda-Algeciras-Tarifa

Algeciras
Car rental to Tarifa, or other mode of transportation

Tarifa
Campsite/Hostel (3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20)