Mostly just another rant about my internship. Eh. But here comes Semana Santa!

Thank goodness. It's finally Semana Santa (Holy Week). That means I don't have school allllll week. I plan on #1. Relaxing and of course #2. Going around Sevilla to see some pasos! I'm super excited!

The last week of classes before break was a struggle. When you know you have a break coming up, the motivation to do work is at about a two and a half. We didn't have class on Tuesday, though, due to a huelga -- gotta love those Spanish protests that get you out of school.

Nothing else really happened this week. Thursday night was the grand finale of one of Toni's favorite shows, Gran Hermano VIP. I watched it with her until it got to be like midnight and then I just couldn't handle it anymore. I'm not a fan of that show, but I did want to see who won...but I had to get up early the next morning, so sleep won over Gran Hermano. Turns out that the girl who I thought would win, Belén, did in fact win.

However on Friday, things got a lil' crazy. My internship has been kind of a hot mess lately, but when is it ever normal? So, the past two Fridays, the first teacher that I work with has not been the most helpful. I'll tell ya all about it:

The first time, she just straight up didn't show up to class until like 9:30 (class was already half over). Then she poked her head in the door, told me there was a "problem downstairs" and that she wanted me to just teach the class, then she rolled right back out (without even telling me what she wanted me to teach)! It's not even my job to teach in that class (so I didn't come prepared with a lesson plan -- lesson learned, always come with some kind of plan even if it's not an actual lesson plan...just anything to pass the time), and she knows that because she's the one who told me that my job is to work with small groups to evaluate their English while she teaches. Her exact words were, "Every Friday, you'll evaluate a group of students' English, help them find what they need to work on the most, and practice conversation with them." Why she gotta change things up without notice???

ALSO, let me tell you something else: I don't think I have ever worked in a class so disrespectful in my entire life. I don't think I've even seen or been in a class that disrespectful -- and I've basically spent my whole life in school, 17 years out of 21. They were up and moving around (despite my best efforts to get them seated), throwing numerous things (including the typical paper balls and also something that looked like a shortened bike tire inner tube -- which I promptly confiscated as soon as I saw it flying through the air), hitting each other, screaming for literally no good reason other than to just see what I would do, and about 50 other different things. I'm 23902383% sure it's because the students don't think of me as a teacher and just want to see what limits there are. It was absolutely impossible to do anything in that class. I tried every dang trick I could remember from my education classes to try to bring things together, but goodness gracious, it was like trying to climb up an icy hill barefoot with your hands tied behind your back. There's not one education class out there that could even begin to prepare you for the nightmare that is "American Intern Working in a Class of almost 30 Spanish 15 Year Olds." Not one.

It's also so fun when the students think you don't know Spanish (the teachers tell us not to let them know we know Spanish...but I feel like sometimes it's necessary to communicate in Spanish in situations like this), so they like to talk about the fact that they can say and do whatever they want because I won't know what's happening. It's even more fun to respond to them in Spanish and tell them that they're definitely wrong, and then watch their eyes get really big. This gif accurately sums up how that feels:

And it's not like I could go find their teacher because she literally just rolled out, didn't tell me where she'd be, and that was that. Gee, thanks for the help.

Let it be known that it wasn't a complete disaster. I sort of got their attention enough to play a pretty good game of hangman in English, and I got the majority of them to do a writing prompt. It just took way more effort than necessary (and a lot of help from the students who actually took me seriously when I told them that I was going to give a *really* honest report of their behavior to their teacher).

After that class, I searched high and low for the teacher, finally found her just chillin' in a random hallway, and then told her that the class was probably the worst in the history of all classes ever, then I told her I was never working with them alone ever again. Her response? "Yeah, they're my worst class. They're very rude and loud....no respect. Was it really bad? I'm not surprised. I'll talk to them." Wow, so helpful.

The second time (this past Friday), she showed up at 9:20, didn't apologize or anything, and then just called on the students she wanted to be evaluated, unlocked the teacher's workroom down the hall for us and sent us on our merry way. Ugh.

Side rant: I'm pretty sure she just didn't want to teach --- aka do her job. I have heard from other interns that she never shows up to class/always shows up ridiculously late to class, or that she'll come to class but leave for the majority of the class to "go make copies." Basically, we've come to the conclusion that she uses her classes with interns as free periods. I don't feel like that is very professional, and I'm pretty sure more than half of these interns aren't even studying education, so they don't even know the basics of how to manage a classroom (which isn't a bad thing, but it's not very ideal). Also, why is she even allowed to do that? None of us are licensed teachers, and the older students don't see us as teachers...they just see us as these random Americans invading their class to speak English for a while. That combined with the complete lack of respect I've seen for teachers from students in this school creates a pretty hectic classroom environment that ~no one~ is really equipped to handle.



There is a giant silver lining to all of this, though! I no longer dread going to infantil (the 4 and 5 year olds) after this class! It's basically heaven in there! Singing songs, tellings stories...and of course...wiping snot. You know, I didn't know small children produced so much snot. It's slightly disturbing. But really, I like my infantil class now, and I totally prefer it over the 15 year olds.

Also, things at my internship were kind of a hot mess on Friday because that was the day of the school's mock Semana Santa procession. On one hand, it was an extremely valuable and amazing experience to witness, but on the other hand, it was a lot of stuff to handle. Phew. I bet it took some intense organization. Here are some pictures I borrowed from the school's Facebook page:

Some students dressed up like women do on a certain day of Semana Santa to mourn the death of Jesus
(source)

Nazarenos all ready to go!
(source)

Some Nazarenos!
(source)

My internship supervisor making her way through a sea of children
(source)

Yep, there are students underneath of that carrying it just like "in real life!"
(source)

If you want to see the rest of the pictures, here's the link to their Facebook page: Colegio Marista San Fernando FB Page

So yeah, that's about it. Tomorrow (and the rest of this week), I plan on going out to see some "real" Semana Santa pasos. That'll be an interesting experience. I really hate crowds so much, so on one hand I'm really looking forward to everything, but on the other hand...ugh, not really. It'll be fun, though!

-----

College search update:

There's nothing to update you on because I'm still waiting for financial aid information from Salem College and Randolph College. I've got my information for Hollins University, but I just need to double check that I would for sure graduate on time from there (same with all of the rest of the colleges). I've almost thrown Salem out of the picture because of the differences between education programs, though...but I'm keeping it in the running just in case it is ridiculously cheaper. Not sure if I would still go, though. Basically everything's still a waiting game.

Personal Post #8: Halloween in Spain?

Halloween in Spain...what? They don't celebrate Halloween, right? I thought they celebrated Day of the Dead or something and painted sugar skulls and like...other Day of the Dead stuff, right?

Incorrect! That is Mexico. Mexico and Spain are *not* the same thing. Two completely different countries that speak the same language. Just like America and Australia. Or America and England. We are not the same as Australia or England, right? Okay...now that that rant is off my chest, let me start writing about my Halloween spent here in Sevilla.

Now, to my surprise, Halloween is bigger than I expected (considering I was literally expecting nothing and for it to just be another regular day). This whole week at my internship en el colegio (in the school), we have been talking about Halloween in almost all of my classes. They totally copied everything from us, which most of my teachers explained to their students before putting the spotlight on me to talk about the "real" Halloween. My host mom told me they've only been celebrating Halloween for like...8 years. Also, the chino stores were full of costumes and other random little Halloween goodies like pumpkin buckets, candy, and little knick knacks. There were a few carteles (posters) posted around town advertising Halloween parties and activities, but I didn't start noticing them until like...three days before Halloween. Typical Spaniards waiting until the last minute to do stuff! Or maybe I was just really oblivious. That's a total possibility. Hmm...

Anyway, on the actual day of Halloween, which was yesterday (Friday), I had to go to my internship from 8:00-14:10. I was really excited I got to spend the majority of my day at the colegio, because that meant I was going to be talking a lot about Halloween to my students. I wore orange and black, and I was definitely the only one up in that school that looked even slightly Halloween-y. I definitely remember when I was growing up, a lot of my teachers dressed up for Halloween (maybe not dress up dress up, but they wore Halloween colors and stuff like that). I guess teachers here haven't caught on to that aspect yet...and who knows if they ever will! This is still Spain, after all.

How I looked on Halloween vs. How I felt on Halloween

Nevertheless, I still spent a good majority of my day doing Halloween related things with my younger students. We played Halloween bingo, looked at Halloween pictures on Google, colored Halloween pictures, and I demonstrated trick-or-treating to them. I didn't spend much time talking about Halloween to my older students, though, because they have more of a strict agenda (my older students are currently reading short stories in English and really focusing on building new vocabulary to prepare themselves for their big test they have to take that will determine whether or not they can go to University). It was a really fun day, and I had a good time answering questions about Halloween and hearing my students' plans for Halloween.

One of the teachers I worked with drew all of the Halloween vocab words on the board while I explained how I celebrate Halloween in the USA! I can't believe she took the time to draw these cute cartoons! That's dedication.

After the colegio, I went home and ate lunch with my host mom, took a small nap, and then headed out to the University with Isis and Genisis to see a couple of scary movies shown by the Aula de Cultura (basically like a culture club?). We watched "El Proyecto de La Bruja de Blair" (The Blair Witch Project) and "La Matanza de Texas" (Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

But really, we were late to the first movie, so we saw the ending of El Proyecto de La Bruja de Blair, and Isis and Genisis watched half of La Matanza de Texas while I discreetly slept during it (I was tired, okay? It has been a long week of exams and little sleep! I could seriously only keep my eyes open for the first 5 minutes. Genisis and Isis said at first they just thought I was closing my eyes for the gross parts, but when I never opened them back up...they realized I was knocked out.) Then, we rolled out of there early to head out to Isla Mágica, a small theme park on the edge of Seville.

When we arrived, everyone was dressed up in a costume, and let me tell you, Spain does costumes RIGHT. Ladies? Forget about the typical sexy pirate/sexy cop/sexy whatever the crap you guys come up with, the women here in Spain GET SCARY. Way more creative, way better make-up skills, and way more fun. I saw so much fake blood, so many fake scars and peeling skin and burns, swords, knives, axes, fake chainsaws, all held by women. I think the US needs to catch on to this. So much more exciting and fun.

When I googled "halloween costumes women" I got stuff like this:

Halloween costumes in America for women

When I googled "disfraces de halloween para mujeres" I got stuff more like this:

Halloween costumes in Spain for women

Now, just add in make-up like this to the Spanish costumes, and you'll have a decent idea of what I saw last night:

It was a really fun night seeing everyone all dressed up. Even a lot of the kids looked terrifying. Some parents dressed up their little-little kids in fake blood, gave them a fake bloody knife, and let them run around the park looking super creepy.

At the park, I convinced Isis and Genisis to ride several "big" rides with me, including a ride which was the smaller equivalent to the Drop Zone at King's Dominion:

A photo I borrowed off of Google Images of the ride I'm talking about (click here for where the photo actually came from)

And also I successfully convinced/peer pressured them to ride El Jaguar with me, which is a fun roller coaster at Isla Mágica:

Found this photo of El Jaguar here

Now, let me give you a little background on my experience with roller coasters. I'm not afraid of any of them. I love roller coasters! Isis and Genisis on the other hand...are the opposite. I'm still not even sure how I managed to get them on that thing. I ended up riding next to Genisis, who as soon as we sat down and got strapped in, looked at me and said, "Is it too late to change my mind???" and of course, me being the jerk I am, said "HAHA NOPE, TOO LATE NOW SUCKA!" Then, as it started off, she began to curse in a strange Spanglish mix of English curse words, Spanish curse words, and prayers. I just sat there laughing because it was hilarious (yet awful at the same time.) Then, we went down the first major hill, and all I could hear was her screaming bloody murder. Then after a few seconds, she got quiet. At first I was like "okay maybe she got used to the ride," so I looked over at her, and I saw her head was down and she just looked straight up dead. I stopped having fun to have a mini anxiety attack because I was convinced that I just indirectly killed Genisis by convincing her to ride the roller coaster. So the rest of the roller coaster, while fun, was also extremely terrifying because I totally thought she had seriously passed out or died. I wasn't about to have to deal with that, so I was really hoping that she was just praying or practicing Buddhism and meditating to find her inner strength while on the roller coaster. Luckily, once the ride slowed down, I looked over at her again and she picked her head up, and while she looked pretty shaken, when I asked her if she was okay, her response was a shaky nod of the head yes. After we got off the roller coaster and hobbled down the ramps like drunks (we decided that walking down ramps after just getting off any type of amusement park ride make you look extremely drunk even though you haven't had a sip of alcohol), Genisis and Isis proceeded to tell me that they're glad they rode it, they had fun, and they'd probably do it again! Success! 

We rode a few more rides too, like that typical boat that goes back and forth, and some other thing that spun around and went back and forth. I'm really no good at describing rides, and I don't remember their names so you'll just have to deal with these vague descriptions. Sorry. 

All in all, it was a night full of fun and laughter, and it was probably one of the better Halloween's I've had in a while. I also found out that roasted chestnuts are literally the most disgusting snacks on the planet, and while they smell good, they're really just plain disgusting. I do not recommend them.

Also, a couple of side notes that have nothing to do with Halloween but I still want to include them, so I'm just tossing them here at the end:

1. On Nov. 4th, I'll have been here for 2 months! I can't believe I've been in Spain for almost two months. It feels like I've been here for much longer. I can see improvements in my Spanish, but at the same time, I still know I have such a long way to go, and that's why I've realized lately how glad I am for choosing to study abroad for the year. Hopefully, by May, I'll see a significant difference in my Spanish. It would be kind of embarrassing to come back from a school year in Spain and still not know what the heck I'm trying to say. The students who are only staying for the fall semester only have a little over a month and a half left in Spain, and while that still seems kind of like a lot, when you compare it to my 6 and a half months left...it's practically nothing. I wonder how they feel about that? I mean, I can hardly believe I "only" have about 6 and a half months left here. What the heck, where is time going? I definitely am starting to feel like that I don't want to return to the States, and it's only the beginning of November...I mean, yes, there's things I miss from the States, but I'm definitely starting to appreciate and get used to everything here a lot more, which feels really good to say.

2. Also, internship update. I feel like I always talk about it, but to me it's one of the most important things that I'm doing here. At first, I didn't really like it, and sometimes I still walk up in there like, "Okay, here we go again..." but I'm really starting to get used to it, and I really love it. It's especially great because lately, especially after a more difficult week at the school, I've come to realize that I pretty much have the world's best mentor teacher. I'm always throwing questions at her, and she answers them in a timely fashion with really detailed and helpful answers, and she always tells me how happy she is to answer my questions. I mean, my past mentor teachers were all really nice and truly, I learned a lot from each one, but none of them have ever been so willing to help me succeed in the classroom before. My mentor teacher here is happy to answer my questions and to work with me for every single one of my numerous requirements I have to complete for my internship. She literally told me, "I'm happy to help you with your questions, because in a way, they also make me think about the teaching process and all that stuff." I've never had a teacher who seemed like they were excited to maybe learn about the teaching process with me. It's always more like, "I am the teacher in this class, so I know what's best in this class. You can try your new-fangled models of teaching here, but I don't think they'll actually work that well." I can't wait to continue working with her and my other mentor teachers at el colegio this semester, and probably into next semester as well. 

Personal Post #7: Spain Fun Times

This week has given me hope that maybe a year in Spain isn't going to drag on as I thought it would back when I was super homesick. I definitely think it's safe to say I'm not homesick anymore. I mean, I Skyped with Megan and she was telling me about how she drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw all of the beautiful fall foliage (that's basically my favorite thing to do in the fall), and my reaction was "Oh, how fun, but let me tell you about SPAIN!"

It all started when we went to Granada last weekend, and let me tell you, Granada is about 7,829,085 times better than Sevilla. #sorrynotsorry It just has a better atmosphere --  I don't know how else to describe it. There were mountains (for those who don't know me, mountains are my most favorite things on the entire planet...I literally tear up when I see mountains beautiful enough), the streets felt cleaner (do you even have any idea of how many times I have stepped in dog crap in Sevilla??), the air was crisp and fresh, and there was way more greenery (trees, flowers, and grass!). Oh, and of course I can't forget to mention the Alhambra, which is probably my most favorite place in Spain so far. Also, Granada also happens to be the home of the best vegan restaurant I've ever set foot into, and the home of the only "dollar store" I've seen. 

Okay, speaking of that vegan restaurant...on our free time in Granada on Saturday, my friends Isis and Genisis, who are vegetarian, and I set off during our free time to find a vegan restaurant I found on Happy Cow (praise da lawd for Happy Cow, what would I do without it? Also, if you don't know what Happy Cow is, it's a website and app that searches for vegetarian/vegan restaurants in your areas...it's like Yelp but solely for vegetarian/vegan places!). The journey there was interesting. We totally thought we were lost because we were going on all these deserted side streets, but we saw a lot of cool places that we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Plus, we got away from all the annoying touristy places, and that was really nice. Once we finally got there, we basically stood outside of the place, stared at it, and took pictures like we've never seen a (vegan) restaurant before (well, we have, but it's rare, okay? We aren't like you normal people who can walk up into any restaurant and eat whatever's on the menu). So after our moment of awe, we went inside, feeling all giddy like children who are about to eat dessert before their main meal, looked at the menu full of overwhelmingly mouth-watering options, and decided within like two minutes to eat dinner there instead of at the hotel, because we knew our options were going to be limited at the hotel (being vegetarian or vegan in Spain isn't the easiest thing in the world...there are usually 0-1 vegan options when you go out to eat, and I'm not really sure about vegetarian options because I don't really pay attention to those, but it's seriously lacking). And of course, I documented my vegan restaurant experience with photos:

Behold: the best vegan restaurante in the world (or at least that I've tried so far in my life)

The menu --the restaurant's name is "Hicuri"

"So fail for a good vegetarian food today" -- ohh, bad translations, you make my day

This probably looks like any ol' burger, but let me tell you things: 1. I haven't had a "real" burger since landing in Spain 2. This is a vegan burger 3. It had vegan mayo (best invention ever) 4. I don't really remember what chicken tastes like, but this was the best "chicken style veggie burger" I've ever had -- it didn't taste weird and overly processed like the ones in the states!

And, of course, when there is an option for vegan dessert, I must purchase it.  Vegan tira misu = lyfe

 So yeah. The fun didn't stop there, though. The restaurant also sold shirts, so I bought a shirt that says "Abolicionista ... libertad animales presos" on it (Abolitionist...free animal prisoners), and vegan banana bread that actually tasted like someone was making a corn muffin and accidentally dropped a banana into the batter. Weird, but it worked.

On the way back to the hotel, Genesis' Santa Semana senses started tingling, and the next thing Isis and I knew, Gen was power walking/half running off ahead of us in search for a Semana Santa ensayo (a Semana Santa practice) that we could hear in the distance. Don't know what Semana Santa is? Let us consult Google:

Here's a couple of photos of Semana Santa in Sevilla (that I obviously did not take because it hasn't happened yet -- it's not till spring):

Where I found this pic

Nazarenos outside of the Giralda (ps click here to go to where I found this pic)

If you want to learn more about Semana Santa, go make Google your friend! It's really cool.

So then, after chasing Genisis down and watching the ensayo, we headed back to the hotel with hopes that we'd be allowed to check in and skip dinner since we already ate. Luckily, that worked out. We rolled in and rolled out within 10 minutes. Then we spent the rest of our night hiking up a mountain. Yep, once again, instead of sticking to the typical touristy areas, we headed up a side street, which also happened to lead us up a giant mountain. Isis and Genisis walked up the mountain while I tripped my way up. I don't know what it was about Granada, but I could not walk without tripping every five seconds in that city! It happened both days, too! Anyway, the walk up was worth it, though, because look at the view of the Alhambra we got:

This photo does this view 0 justice, especially since it was just taken with my phone.

So yeah, Saturday was awesome. Oh, another thing I did on Saturday that I did but haven't mentioned yet was *saw Fernando and Isabel's tomb/coffins* (extreme Spanish major nerd freakout moment...they were the King and Queen that united Spain and that gave Christopher Columbus the money for his trip to the "Indies").

Then Sunday we spent all day at the Alhambra, aka my most favorite place in Spain. It was beautiful! Here are some more photos from the Alhambra:

Isis, Genisis, and me

 Granada<3

 The architecture was breathtaking

So intricate!

After the Alhambra, we headed back to the hotel for lunch (which was unimpressive by the way, especially after Hicuri). Then we hopped on the bus and headed back to Sevilla. 

Now, let me finish explaining the rest of my amazing week. I didn't plan on making this post so full of my Granada adventures...but I guess that shows just how much I loved it!

Anyway, the beginning of the week wasn't anything special. Monday was uneventful. Internship, class, internship again, lunch, class again, homework. Eh. 

Tuesday is when things started getting better. On Tuesday, I ~~**~*FINALLY*~**~~ got my internship hours settled. 13 hours a week! Definitely gonna get in all of my hours this semester. Now if I want, I can just do the internship a few hours a week next semester! That was my "high of the day" for Tuesday. (Ohh, how I miss camp where everyday at the end of the day we got to share our "highs of the day" aka the best parts of our day).

Then Wednesday was basically just the perfect day. It was like I started at the bottom of a hill on Monday, then walked up it as the week went on -- and Wednesday was the top! Let me summarize Wednesday for you in list form:

1. First class was only 15 minutes (instead of two hours) and 10 of those 15 minutes were waiting for the professor to show up, so technically my first class was 5 minutes
2. Went to the Mercado de Triana and had "real" conversations with Spaniards where I understood everything that was said to me (I had to ask questions to the vendors in the market for one of my assignments for my gastronomía española class)
3. Went to a random Spanish café and ordered a coffee (sin leche) and toast and didn't make myself look like a complete fool (they totally knew I was American thanks to my still bad accent, but w/e.)
4. I taught a great class at my internship, and I found out I got to go on a field trip later in the week! :D
5. Thanks to my coffee, I was actually awake for my really boring classes and didn't struggle to stay awake -- I can't even begin to explain how great it is to sit in a class and not feel your eyes crossing and closing
6. I managed to find exact change for the bus, so I took the bus home from the University (first time by myself!) for lunch and saved like 15 minutes on my commute
7. I got a "job" tutoring my host mom's granddaughter for 8 euros each Wednesday for one hour ;D

All of those small little victories added up to me feeling awesome at the end of the day! 

Then, Thursday was pretty great, too! I had to be at el colegio (the school) for my internship from 8am-9am. It went well...but as I was walking out of the school, I happened to walk past the principal who said, "Oh, Kari, do you have time to come translate something for me really quick?" so since I didn't have class until 11 and it was only 9, I obviously said "Of course!" So we went to her office where she handed me a piece of paper where a student had written a very vulgar comment in English to one of his teachers. Of course, I had to translate it/explain it to the principal because she didn't really understand what it said, and she wasn't sure what she should do about punishment. After my explanation, she was like "Yeah...there's definitely gonna be a nice punishment for him." Awkwaaard. So after that, I wandered aimlessly around Sevilla to pass the time, and I happened to stumble upon a café with a sign out front that said, "tenemos leche de arroz y leche de soja" (we have rice milk and soy milk). I basically stopped dead in my tracks, stared at the sign in disbelief, then marched in there, ordered a café con leche de soja (coffee with soymilk), hunkered down in a cozy corner with my yummy coffee and did some homework until it was time to go to class! It was pretty decently close to the University, too. ¡Que suerte! Then that night, Isis and I went to intercambio where we met some really nice people! I exchanged numbers with two people so we can meet up later next week for more language exchange. :) Building that Spanish network!  

And then, today, Friday, was ridiculously fun, and I totally feel super accomplished. I went on a field trip with MariCarmen's (one of the teachers I work with) class, and two other classes (in all, it was the classes 6° A, B, and C, aka the 5th grade classes...at least I think 5th grade. One of the students I asked said they were all 10 and 11...) to Aventura Sevilla at a really pretty park about 20 minutes away from Sevilla called "La Corchuela." We did this giant ropes course with three "levels:" easy, medium, and hard. Basically, the easy course was close to the ground with easy things to do and the hard course was really high up and had crazy stuff to do. I only had time to complete the easy and medium courses, though, but a lot of my students had time to do all three and they loved telling me about it! It had some awesome zip-lines, and on the hard course there was even some weird looking bicycle thing that you pedal from one tree to the next. Wish I could have seen some of my students try that! It was so fun, and I loved spending that time getting to know the students better and teaching them a few vocab words like zip line, net, harness, trees, ropes, ground, leaves, scary, heights, logs, wood, tunnel...and some other random words that had to do with whatever we happened to be doing! It was seriously so much fun, and I'm so glad I got the chance to do that! 

Also, my proud moment of the day, MariCarmen explained to the lady who was going to give my group a tutorial on how to go through to course that I was their American English assistant, and the lady looked kind of scared and was like, "¿...habla español...?" (does she speak Spanish?) and MariCarmen super confidently said, "Sí, ¡por supesto!" (Yes, of course!). I looked at MariCarmen like "Oh God. Why do you have so much confidence in my Spanish?? What if I have no idea what this lady is saying when she explains what to do?! I don't know any vocab related to this stuff! I'm not trying to fall out of a tree today because I didn't understand the instructions!" Well, I shouldn't have been worried because #1. The monitora (lady explaining how to use the equipment/go through the course) was explaining everything to a group of 10 and 11 year olds, so obviously she repeated herself like 2,930,934 times to make sure the kids understood what they had to do. #2. I actually understood everything she said! I felt so normal! The only thing I didn't understand was how to open the mosquetón (carabiner -- I didn't know the English word for that until I looked it up just now!), but that's just because I wasn't watching when she demonstrated...oops. But yeah, I am super proud of myself for understanding everything today in such a new situation!

And...to end such a great week, JYS has an excursion to Madrid tomorrow! :D