A 'normal' day as an American Teacher in IES Complutense

One of the first things I learned is that there is almost no such thing as a normal school day, let alone a normal week. I think we've had one complete week of school so far this year. The weeks are interrupted mainly by holidays, with a couple of strikes still happening occasionally. But setting those regular 'exceptions' aside, this is how a typical day is for me (and the two other teachers at my school).

I need to be at the school between 815 and 10 AM, depending on when I have my first class. If I do have class at 815, then I should show up at 810 at the earliest, because getting to school any earlier pretty much guarantees that you will see the school deserted. The students aren't allowed in the building until 810 anyway, and even though the bell rings at 815, there is a leeway of time for the teachers to get to class (most arrive around 817, but really you have until 820 before it's kind of late).

During the school day there is only one official class break from 1055 to 1120. This isn't a luch break (because 25 minutes is entirely too short to actually have lunch :). But in practice many students eat.

The class structure seems somewhat predictable, but there are less student activities than I remember having when I was in middle school. Well, in some of my classes. I remember doing more projects. But in my middle school, I had the same classes every day. Here, some teachers only see the students once or twice a week. The only classes that students have every day are English and maybe Math. So it is a lot harder to cover the same amount of material and still do activities if you only see the students three days a week instead of five. It's a strange system, but it is what it is.

In my school, we are lucky enough to have a fantastic coordinator (José-Luis) who understands the importance of actual coordination, so we have two coordinating meetings a week: one meeting with all of the CLIL teachers (Content Learning In Lanugage...? it's the teachers who teach their subjects in English), and one meeting with all of the Americans with just José-Luis. There are three American teachers and one American auxiliare at our school. These meetings are necessary because it makes it easier to brainstorm solutions to common problems.

Each of the Americans work with several teachers. However, as we have a specialty, we each have one main teacher that we work with. We all have time set aside each week in which we can help plan out the lessons. In my case, Irene and I schedule out what topics are going to be taught on what days, and then I pick the days and topics that I think would be fun to teach. Sometimes we decide that we need to spend the day doing some sort of activity, and then I usually volunteer to research and find something because that leaves Irene free to spend more time with her other classes. Irene lets me know exactly what material she needs covered and what parts she wants emphasized. This makes my life much easier because then I don't have to worry about Irene having to go back and re-teach what I taught because I did it wrong.

I finish with the day between 115 and 305 every day, and then I go home and am done with the teaching part of my day. The work day is sufficient for me to complete all of my lesson planning (such as it is) and the English department has been very welcoming. It is a fun office to have as a base.

From talking with some of the other teachers here, Complutense is by far one of the best to work with. The staff has been welcoming of all of our input and it has a very colaborative feel. I understand that for many of the other teachers they act as a language assistant or spend a good portion of their day in PE, and their schedule is designed to keep them at school whether they have a teacher they are working with or not. But I think the situations in the other schools stems from the fact that the coordinators there think that is what they are supposed to do (and maybe it is). Here at IES Complutense we are treated as if we belong, and I like that.

Let me know if you have any questions about anything!

Alhambra: The unconquerable city

When Hollis and I went to Granada, we booked a tour of the Alhambra. Because it was a holiday weekend, all of the general admission tickets were sold out (General admission is 13€). But I found an English tour of the Alhambra and parts of Granada for 25€. We got to go into many parts of the Alhambra, some of which are parts not open for public wandering. And it was awesome to learn so much background about Charles V, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabel.

We learned that Washington Irving is pretty much the Hero of the Alhambra (okay, so they just call him "hijo de la Alhambra" or "son of the Alhambra"). He lived here for about a year, collecting stories about what happened there. Before he arrived, Napolean's army had destroyed much of the city of the Alhambra, but several beautiful structures remained. He published Tales of the Alhambra in the 1830s. Many Americans thought that it sounded wonderful, so they came to see this Alhambra. This tourism is what helped preserve what is left of the Alhambra to the present day.

Here is Hollis with Washington Irving.

The only remaining original entrance to the Alhambra is pictured below:

I think it's called the Door of Justice. This lower door leads to an S-shaped interior that used to have 5 doors (one at each bend) that you had to pass through to reach the upper door that has access to the city of Alhambra. If an army used a battering ram to break through the first door, they would have to leave it behind and simply hack at the second door (located at a 90 degree angle from the first one). The invaders would have to chop through all five doors while being killed by defenders above to breach the city. It never happened. The Alhambra was never conquered.

In this picture you can see the aquaduct that provides all the water for the Alhambra:

This was a very vunerable point because if an invading army could block this water supply, no more water would be entering the Alhambra. However, there was enough water stored inside the city walls to support the entire city of 2,000 people for nine months. This is about how long Ferdinand and Isabel laid seige to the city of Granada in 1491 before the city of Alhambra surrendered on 2 Jan 1492. Thus, the Alhambra is a city that was never conquered. It was given up. :)

The Alhambra is on the top of a hill and overlooks the city of Granada. This is a picture of the historic Albaicín.

Charles the V spent his honeymoon in Granada. Because of a sickness in the North, he ended up staying at the Alhambra for six months, and so some special rooms had to be built for winter residence. This small room was built to be warm. I got a kick out of the size of the doorways.

Yep. Hollis would have been a Giant in the 1500s.

The Alhambra is a very beautiful place to visit. Especially on a temperate sunny day. Hollis and I plan to go back again to have a general visit so we can spend more time looking at the many details.

Granada

I had a 4-day weekend this last week, so Hollis and I took the opportunity to travel. We took the bus to Granada, a city in the South of Spain.

The cathedral is one of the first things you see in historic downtown because it is so big.

Hollis is the shadow on the right. This cathedral is actually Baroque in architecture. If you are familiar with Baroque, it usually is completely overdone. However, in Granada, the cathedral was finished with very little money, so it is simple Baroque. Or (prepare yourselves) broke Baroque.

In the streets near the cathedral, they have rebuilt the merchant's district with the streets as narrow as they were historically.

Now it is completely full of gift shops. Over-priced, naturally, but not so much that you really feel like you are getting ripped off.

Our first night there, Hollis and I went for a walk to try and get a view of the Alhambra at night. I didn't know where the best view was, but I knew we needed to walk up. The streets were quite narrow and steep.

This is the part of town known as the Albaicín, the oldest part of Granada. Historic downtown is mostly rebuilt because it burned down in the early 1900s.

In our hunt for the best viewing spot, we found some crazy streets. Like this staircase in the middle of the road:

If you happened to be driving a car, you would have to go back and try another way.

Hollis was able to take this amazing panoramic shot of the Alhambra:

We did finally find the park: the viewpoint of some saint.

We really enjoyed Granada. We even discovered a new flavor of ice cream:

Yep. Chocolate hot pepper. And no, we didn't try it.

Tv

Hollis and I bought an old TV so that we could use our Wii with it. However, I forgot that old TVs had a totally different input in Europe, and so even though we had an adaptar that changed the RCA to a Euroconector (or Scart), it still wouldn't work.

So after a lot of thought we decided to invest in a new TV. The best deal we found was on a 32" OKI. It was $30 off because it didn't come with the remote, but it did come with a "free" 4-year guarantee (the extended warranty cost 50€ but you had to get it).

We're planning on being able to resell it for 200€.

By the way, the movie you can see on the screen is actually "Fires of Faith," a BYUtv documentary about the translation of the Bible into English. It's really good! I highly recommend you go watch it.

Lessons from Paul

By Hollis

So, I have been reading through the New Testament this year in my personal scripture study. The last time I read all the way through it was my senior year in High School, and I don't remember as much as I'd like.

The last couple of days, I have been reading about Paul's testimonies in Jerusalem and before Agrippa (Acts 21-26) and my faith was strengthened, by the firm zeal of Paul. In the face of violent oppositions, he stuck to his testimony of the living Christ with determination and humility.

One excerpt I would like to share is from Acts 26. Paul is recounting the story of his vision of the Savior to King Agrippa.

12 ... as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 At midday, O King, I saw in the way a light from haven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast see, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Acts 26:12-16 KJV

What struck me while reading this, is that the Lord did not appear the call Paul to repentance as much as he did to call him to the ministry. Repentance was expected and received. The Lord trusted that Paul would do what he needed to to change his ways, and cut the the heart of the matter, calling Paul as a Special Witness of Jesus Christ.

How often do I wish that the Lord would take me by the hand and clear the trouble from my way, or appear and call to repentance a friend or family member who has strayed from the strait and narrow path. What I have never understood is that with great miracles from the Lord comes the responsibility to be a witness of those miracles. Just like Paul, Alma the Younger (Mosiah 27 Book of Mormon) also was called to be a special witness and it dramatically altered the course of his life.

What this means to me is that no matter what we think we want, God has our best interests in mind when answering our prayers, blessing us, and helping lead loved ones back to Him. He won't give us more than we can handle. Even if you beg him for it. Why? Because He loves us, and is our perfect Father. I know that God lives and knows and loves me and each of you.

Things Temporal and Things Spiritual

By Hollis

Today during my personal studying of the scriptures (which can be long and drawn out if I want because I am a stay at home husband and we don't have kids), I came across an article in the July 2005 issue of the Ensign (an LDS publication containing messages and stories of a spiritual nature) on the role of the Presiding Bishopric. It describes the role of the Presiding Bishopric in the LDS church as the presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood as well as administrator of the temporal matters of the church. They are also general authorities and thus are likewise called to assist the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in any capacity requested. Bishop Keith B. McMullin, author of this article and 2nd counsellor in the Presiding Bishopric, cites D&C 24:34-35 in reference to the Lord saying that He has given no law that is temporal and goes on to explain what this means. I hadn't previously understood how every law could be spiritual, even those seemingly temporal.

He states,
"In most people’s minds, the temporal affairs for which the Presiding Bishopric is responsible are the business aspects of the Church. But in the 29th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says, “Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; … for my commandments are spiritual” (D&C 29:34–35).

The Lord does not look at things the way we do. And so it is with the temporal affairs of the Church. Because a copy of the Book of Mormon is a printed book, to the unknowing eye it may appear to be like any other book. But this book is produced to introduce to the world the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. And so the “temporal affairs” that bring about the translating, printing, binding, and distributing of the Book of Mormon are rife with spiritual implications. This principle is true for everything “temporal” the Church does."

I just wanted to share that.

Doce de Octubre (aka Columbus Day)

Remember Columbus day? For me it has always been the holiday that I remember only after somebody tells me that it already happened. In Spain, however, it is one of the biggest holidays of the year. It is very patriotic (I'd say it's as patriotic as our Independence Day). As you probably know, Columbus sailed the ocean blue (in 1492). His voyage was financed by Spain, so when he found America on October 12, 1492, Spain reaped the benefits.

Hollis and I went to Madrid to see the parade. I had heard that there would be parachuters, and I was not disappointed.

I tried to get to the plaza where the King and Queen were watching, but it was fenced off and we couldn't get within a block. So we settled for in the shade. The parade was a military parade. It was the first parade of this kind that I've ever seen. The tanks were quite loud and impressive.

We also loved the airplanes flying down the parade route. Sometimes they were trailing yellow and red smoke (the colors of the Spanish flag).

People were everywhere, and I saw so many flags that I wanted one. But since I didn't know what I'd do with it, Hollis didn't buy one for me :)

Semana Cervantina

Alcalá de Henares, the wonderful town we live in, is the town where Cervantes was born. Cervantes, you know, the author of Don Quixote? He's sort of a big deal. So much so that around his birthday the entire town has a huge medieval festival. It's called Semana Cervantina. The town gets decked out in banners, more than 100 people set up market booths and dress in period costume, and they have open pit roasing fires!

We bought some delicious cheese. Hollis LOVES it and I also enjoy it. It was expensive but SO GOOD! 12€ for a 1/4 wheel. I think the cheese was named after an Island, and I thought it was a Baleric island, but I can't remember which one.

Hollis loved the roasting pits. I mean, look at all that meat.

And the pigs that were roasting were amazing. This one looked like superman.

There were also parades of people. This is the only one we managed to catch - a musicians parade. We really liked the guy in front spinning the glass ball - it looked like magic.