La Familia: The Second Weekend

Futbol, the harbor, and La Sagrada Familia

Saturday, November 26

For the second of Alvaro's futbol games since I was in Barcelona we had to drive about 15 minutes outside the city limits for an away game. Inma commented how weird it is that within 15 minutes of their house there are a ton of schools, yet they always have to travel for futbol games. We were all a little nervous when we arrived since most of Alvaro's team was missing. When the game started they only had 5 members of the team- 4 less than usual. This meant all 5 boys had to play for the entire game. Despite the lack of additional players the boys worked hard and pulled out a win!

After the soccer game we made a trip to see the harbor since we weren't very far from it. We also passed through a park dedicated to those who won Olympic medals when the  Olympics were hosted in Barcelona in 1992, so of course Inma made us pose for a picture.😅\

The coastline was so pretty, and the sky was much less foggy than it had been on our hike to Tibidabo. This was probably one of the more chilly days while in Barcelona, I actually needed to wear my cardigan instead of just feeling guilted into it! (haha!)

After walking around the harbor for a bit we had planned to just drive by La Sagrada Familia (Church of "The Sacred Family"); however, when we got there Inma changed her mind since there was a Christmas market, she decided she wanted me to see everything. Which was totally fine by me. The market was adorable, but it was pretty busy! More on la Sagrada Familia to come in a later post!

 

The Christmas markets were one of my favorite things I saw in Barcelona. The main thing sold at the markets is nativity figures. Displaying a Belen (nativity) is typical of the culture in Barcelona. The Belens are ornate and typically grow by 1-2 figurines a year. I really wanted to buy one to bring home with me but unfortunately didn't have enough luggage space. 😔

        

My host family's Belen took them a good 2-3 hours to put up. First they had to cover the buffet with cling wrap to protect it from the moisture from the live moss used as the backdrop. Then they had to arrange the nativity figures and added string lights. It was adorable and definitely helped get you into the Christmas spirit!

More posts to come soon:

*A trip to the City Center

*The Gothic Quarter

*Tapas
*The Aquarium
*London
*Park Guell
*Adventures of the Return Trip Home

La Familia: Thanksgiving and Piano Recital

Thanksgiving and Piano Recital

Thursday, November 23

This was the second time I have been out of the country for Thanksgiving. The first being November 2014 when I spent 4 semester studying abroad in Grantham, England at Harlaxton College. Although it was tough not being with my family for such an important holiday, my host family made it much more bearable. Right after school we went to a friend of the family's house. They had lived in Boston for ~6 years so they wanted me to come taste their carrot cake the mom baked as their Thanksgiving celebration. It was delicious, and fun to be around Spanish speakers who understood our culture and language on a more personal level.

After chatting with the family a bit we returned to our house to get ready for Ricardo's piano recital. The recital was not far away, so we walked about 10 minutes to get there. Ricardo had quite the entourage with both sets of grandparents, a cousin, an uncle, Inma, Alvaro, and myself in attendance. We took up half of the available seats!😄 

I could tell Ricardo was a bit nervous before he began, but he did great! He played three different songs mostly from memory, only referring to his music a few times. After the recital, Oscar picked us up and we drove back to the house for a Thanksgiving dinner. The main attraction was the turkey that Inma made sure to get especially for Thanksgiving! Like always, everything was delicious. Inma and Jen (the housekeeper) are both amazing cooks!

After dinner I had the opportunity to call both Jacob and the family. Although it was great to talk to them, I ended up staying up much too late since dinner isn't until around 9 for my family. Add to that about and hour and a half of phone calls and I was exhausted after a long, but happy Thanksgiving day.

La familia: The First Weekend

Student Teaching Abroad

Barcelona, Spain

November 17 - December 5th

My host family consisted of a mother, father, and two brothers. I was also lucky enough to meet a good amount of the extended family as well! Inma, Oscar, Ricardo, and Alvaro were so welcoming from the very beginning. Pictured below is a good portion of the family members I met. This inludes (left to right) Inma's mother, me, Inma's father, Ricardo, Inma's brother, Oscar's mother, Oscar's father, Blanca (Inma's niece), Inma, and Ricardo. 

My host family did a great job of including me in their everyday life. Not only did we eat breakfast and dinner together everyday, but they invited me to family events- futbol (soccer) games, piano recitals, hikes, movie outings, and more.

Justice League

Saturday, November 18

The first official excursion I went on was to the mall with Inma and her niece Blanca. Afterwards we went to the movie theater with Oscar, Inma, Ricardo, Alvaro, and two of Inma's nieces. We went to see the Justice League, which is good for me, because it was translated into Spanish, therefore I only understood about 50% of the dialogue. Luckily action films show most of the important stuff through action and not dialogue! 

There were some surprising differences with the experience that I wasn't expecting. First was that there are assigned seats! I've been to some bigger cities in the US, such as Las Vegas that weren't like that, but I'd be interested to know if there are any in the US that do assigned seats. I think it's brilliant for such large theaters to streamline seating and make sure there aren't wasted seats! Another difference was the different varieties of popcorn offered. Not only did they have the typically movie theater style buttered popcorn, but they had two other savory varieties, and three sweet (similar to kettle corn) varieties. One of the sweet varieties was bright and multicolored! 

Other than not being able to completely understand the dialogue, I really liked the movie. It was fun to get to experience something so simple and be able to notice all the differences.

Tibidabo

Sunday, November 19

The first weekend after we arrived we took a trip to Tibidabo, which is a mountain not far from my host family's house. Not only are the views from Tibidabo amazing, but there is a church and amusement park at the top of the mountain! I told my host family that I definitely don't think you'd see a similar combination anywhere in America!

Ricardo, Blanca, Inma, and Alvaro at the top of Tibidabo

At the top of Tibidabo with the Ferris Wheel in the background

At the top of Tibidabo with the Ferris Wheel and Church in the background

I'm not going to lie, my legs were sore after this ~6 mile hike, but the views were definitely worth it! Even on a foggy day you could still see a good portion of the city!

  

Blanca, Alvaro, and me on the hike down from Tibidabo

Wild pig spotted on the hike back down!

WILD PIG spotted! 

Displaced European

[Focus on the culture and any connections with the educational environment/setting.]

Student Teaching Abroad

Barcelona, Spain

November 17 - December 5th

I can't believe it has been a three weeks since I got back from Barcelona! Since I've gotten back, everyone has had a lot of questions about my experience, including what my favorite part was.

Most of all I love how you can walk to get literally anywhere- the grocery store, the school, the doctor, etc, within 10-15 minutes. Everyone still has cars and drives when they need to, but in my experience they prefer to walk when possible. I love it, and wish we could get to more places by walking here in Bowling Green!

For this reason, and a few others, I think I'm actually a displaced European. ;P I can relate to so many parts of their culture. For example, time tables and schedules are very relaxed. Aka, a lot of people are late ALL the time. While I don't necessarily enjoy the fact that I'm late to things a majority of the time, I have accepted that it is just a part of who I am... and the Spanish have definitely done the same. Even classes within the school typically begin 5-10 minutes behind schedule, on a daily basis. 

Also, in second grade the students learn about the difference between villages, towns, and cities. Part of this includes comparing how in villages more people live in single-family houses whereas in towns/cities you see more apartments/flats. In these lessons, the students and teacher often referred to their apartments as their house- which is something my friends have ALWAYS made fun of me for doing!

Lastly, most of the families in Barcelona have a nanny/housekeeper, which is something I could totally get on board with since I'm not a huge fan of cooking/cleaning! I'm still confused as to what the housekeeper in our family actually did all day since the family was perfect and never made a mess anyway! haha

Engaging in a new culture and staying with a host family is an experience I would highly recommend to anyone. Getting to know the family and spend time with them was a blessing. I was so sad to see the time end so quickly! Having a local to show you around, give advice, and tell you the history and culture of the area is invaluable. I will never forget my time in Barcelona, and cannot wait to return someday!

RMSI: Never Stop Growing

[Address your involvement in the classroom (and/or school, similarities/differences of educational system, etc.]

Student Teaching Abroad

Barcelona, Spain

November 17 - December 5th

If you didn't already know, the purpose of my study abroad trip was to get additional experience student teaching. For this placement, I was at the Collegi Reial Monestir de Santa Isabel (RMSI) in Barcelona. The school is made up of students from toddlers to high school students. "Kindergarten" at this school consists of children aged 1 - 5. Primary age students included grades 1 through 6. Since I was not placed with any upper grades I'm not sure how they compare with those in the US.

I was placed with Mr. Rodd who teaches mainly 2nd grade boys. One major difference between the education at this school and others I've observed in the US was how the teachers at RMSI travel between classes throughout the day. Shown below is the schedule I followed during my two weeks in the school.

The areas in white show when I was with Mr. Rodd with the 2nd grade boys. For the school there are four classes for each grade - 2 girls classes (A,B) and 2 boys classes (C,D). 2D is considered Mr. Rodd's "homeroom." I also spend three hours a week with Miss Olinkha in classes 2A and 2B as well as 2 hours a week with Miss Teresa in classes 1A and 1B. While it was interesting to see such a wide variety of classes, it was overwhelming trying to learn so many names. The average class size at RMSI is 25, however 3C, which Mr. Rodd spends 2.5 hours a week assisting in due to large class size, had 29 students. 

While I was student teaching in Barcelona, I had the opportunity to lead instruction during some class periods. I also had the opportunity to assist during exams with reading the questions and answer options to the students. Since the classes I observed in were all taught in English, the teachers liked to have me speak/ read to the students as much as possible so that they were exposed to a native speaker. It was shocking to me the difference in ability between the 1st graders and 2nd graders in relation to English speaking. In 2nd grade the students very rarely tried to speak in Spanish during class; however, the 1st graders often tried to speak to me in Spanish. Sometimes I could understand them and assist them in English. But, sometimes it was hard to understand them or I didn't have the Spanish vocabulary to be able to understand them.  

As was mentioned above, the teachers travel from room to room. However, the students remain in their "homeroom" and the teachers for each subject come to them during each class period. Shown below is an example of the student's schedule.

Overall the pacing of content is much slower in Barcelona. I was surprised at how long students were given to work on assignments. Additionally, as the teachers traveled from class to class they often arrived 5-10 minutes after the class was supposed to start. During this time, the students were left unattended in the classroom once the previous teacher left to arrive at their next class. 

Another difference was that the school does not employ "substitute" teachers. Some of the teachers have hours set in their schedule where they substitute in other classrooms as needed. If no substitutions were needed, that block of time could be used for planning, grading, or parent meetings.

The most obvious difference between schools in the US and the school in Barcelona, in my opinion, was that the behavior management throughout the school was often lacking. Students were very loud and often disruptive during class. The teachers had to re-direct behaviors and attention repeatedly throughout the class period. There were a few teachers that clearly understood classroom management as was evident when you walked into their classroom. 

What I liked most about this school was the positive, uplifting messages presented to students. Whether through positive reinforcement, small weekly rewards, or displays throughout the school, I think that the students benefit from the encouragement and are encouraged to maintain a positive attitude.

Week 1+: Quick Recap/ Overview

[Share your first impressions of the student teaching abroad experience, including overview of the school, nature of your placement, community, etc.]

Student Teaching Abroad

Barcelona, Spain

November 17 - December 5th

How is this trip already over halfway gone?!?! I am super slacking on the blog posts but I have a whole list written out of the things I want to blog about. First I'll give a quick first impression of the experience.

1) We are not here long enough! In my mind I had convinced my self it was four weeks abroad, when really it was only three! And of that time, we only spend 11 days in the school system--- ELEVEN days! Can you imagine trying to get to know names for 25-30 students in seven different classes in just 11 days? Yea, me either, and I'm already bad at remembering names.

2) There are WAY more differences in the school than I expected (more on this later)-- the physical size of school, available resources, class makeup, subjects studied, and roles of teachers are all vastly different from what I've grown accustomed to.

3) Way more people speak Spanish than Catalan! I had always been told my (very little) Spanish knowledge would be useless here- TOTAL LIE!

4) I can relate to 10/12 year old boys (Like Ricardo & Alvaro in my host family) much better than I thought I could- thanks Star Wars and Kahoot!

You can find more on each of these topics in future blog posts. Overall my first impression is very positive. The biggest thing I have to remind myself is to not be afraid to ask questions, because as long as vocalize my question or concern, there is almost always someone close who can help me out! I am very grateful to be in a community that welcomed us in to help us learn about their culture and traditions, and can't wait to share what I have learned with you all!

Coming Soon!!! Look out for posts on:

*La familia - an introduction to my Host family

*Futbol games

*A Trip to the Cinema

*Hiking Tibidabo

*Thanksgiving in Barcelona

*A trip to the City Center

*Sagrada Familia & Christmas Market

*The Gothic Quarter

*Tapas