Last week I began tutoring two ladies in English one-on-one. Both of them are preparing to take an exam in December to get their first certificate in English. My first client, Ayoda, is an early childhood teacher and would like to spend time in England or the United States to teach Spanish. I am tutoring her three times a week for an hour each. The other one, Estibaliz, works in an employment agency and would just like to improve her ability to converse in English because she feels like it is important to learn. I am tutoring her once a week for an hour. Both are around the same level, so I have worked on similar skills with each of them. We have focused mainly on listening and talking in English, in addition to some grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. The English professors at my school have provided me with materials to use for these lessons, which has been helpful. Surprisingly, they have been a lot easier than I thought they would have been. Since so few people in Vitoria speak English they are just looking for someone to practice their English with and correct their errors. Today, one of the professors at my school approached me and would like me to tutor her 15 year old son once a week. She said she would just like him to work on conversations in English. So I will start my first lesson with him next week. Working in the morning at the secondary school and doing private lessons in the afternoon with definitely keep me busy during the week.
Last week I went on a field trip to La Rioja with a class of students from my school. La Rioja is a region in the north of Spain located directly below the Basque Country. I went on this trip with other teachers from the school who are not part of the English department. The English professors invited me to go on this trip because they thought it would be a good opportunity for me to see these sites. Despite the rain, I enjoyed my visit. We saw some monasteries and cathedrals along with some good sites. At the beginning of the day my interactions with the students was very minimal, since I hadn’t had any of them in class yet they were unsure who I was. Towards the end of the day and as they learned who I was they all became very interested and started to crowd around me talking in both English and Spanish.


Apparently I enjoyed my time in La Rioja so much that I wanted to go back. On Saturday I returned with three of the other American Auxiliaries from Vitoria. La Rioja is known as the wine country in the North of Spain, therefore we decided to go to a winery, also known as a bodega in Spanish. There we got a tour of the winery. We learned about the history, where and how it is made along with some wine tasting. It was a beautiful day, so after our tour we went to the center of Logrono, which is the capital of La Rioja. There we just walked around and explored the small city. We got lunch, spent some time in the plaza with the big fountain, saw the cathedral and walked along the river.

Since Halloween is coming up on Saturday, all of the auxiliaries have decided to talk about Halloween in our classes. So on Monday we all got together at one of the auxiliary’s apartment to carve pumpkins. It is nice being able to take part in holiday traditions with the other Americans here, I was surprised to find out they even sell pumpkins in Spain. One of the English teacher’s at my school was very impressed with my Jack-O-Lantern although anyone who knows me well enough knows that I do not have any artistic ability.


This weekend my school has a 5 day holiday in commemoration to All Saints Day which is on Sunday, November 1. So I have decided to go to Salamanca for the weekend. I will be meeting another auxiliary there who met I over the summer along with the other auxiliaries from her city. I am definitely looking forward to going back.

First week in the classroom and my birthday celebration

So this week I officially started helping out in the classrooms as an Auxiliary. On Wednesday I had my first two classes where I gave the students a short presentation about New Hampshire and Amherst to provide them with a better idea of where I come from and what my culture is like. My presentation included a lot of pictures and maps which I think definitely engaged the students in what I had to say and made it easier for them to understand my English. I wasn't really sure what to expect before getting up in front of the class but once I introduced myself and started speaking it was really easy to continue with my presentation. I found that I had to constantly be asking the students questions with the help of the professor to keep them focused and from losing their interest. They all seemed very interested in what I had to say and where I come from which made it a lot easier. I have no doubt that they will continue to enjoy all of the information I bring to the class regarding my culture. The two classes I did my power point presentation for are the higher level English classes. The students are in their last year of high school and they understand a good majority of what I say however I need to be constantly speaking very slowly with the use of simple words. These are the classes where I will be taking over once a week to present a specific topic or theme to the class such as an American holiday that is coming up.
In addition to these two classes I will also be helping in lower level classes. In these classes I will act more as an assistant to the teacher in class. My role in these classes will consist of helping with specific English grammar being taught in the class or directing a discussion on readings done in class. I may also spend a small portion of the class informally talking about my culture so they can learn about the differences of the American culture to that of their own. Most importantly my purpose is to encourage the students to practice both their oral and listening skills in the English language helping to improve their overall conversational skills.
So far I have only been assigned to work 7 hours in a week in the classrooms. However, I will be putting in a little time outside of class each week to prepare for my presentations. I am hoping that I will be able to find either students, parents, teachers at the school or other people in the city who I can tutor English to. That is something other Auxiliaries have done in the past to earn some extra cash and give them something extra to do. The English teachers at my school have not been too helpful with recommending anyone who may want to learn English but I have posted flyers at my school and the University and hopefully that will spark some interest. I have been given Mondays off so hopefully that will make easier for me to travel frequently on the weekends. I have spent the past two weekends in Vitoria which has been nice but my friends and I from my program are hoping to make it somewhere next weekend relatively close to Vitoria just to see something new.
This past week I also celebrated my 23rd birthday. Wow I can't believe I am already 23. I had a nice celebration with the other teachers in my program along with my three Italian roommates and my Japanese friend I met the first day on the bus from Madrid to Vitoria. They all came over for a Mexican fiesta at my piso. We made fajitas and guacamole, it was great to have a change from Spanish food. My roommates were all confused about what Mexican food was, apparently it is something you don't eat too often in Italy but they ended up liking it a lot. After our dinner my roommates surprised me with a cake in addition to the brownies I had made because I was craving some type of American sweet. Also, at midnight on my birthday the night before they sang to me Happy Birthday and gave me a pair of slippers because they were concerned that my feet were too cold. They actually have come in handy because it is starting to get very cold in Vitoria. Living with them has been a great experience however the language and culture barrier can be a little frustrating at time. I guess that is all part of the experience. My one roommate has even invited me to her house for Christmas. I have not decided if I am going to go but at least I have the offer.

So there is my update on how my first week of school went. I am sure once I spend more time in the classrooms, I will start to take over the classes more and have more of an influential interaction with my students.

(Above I am with my three Italian roommates)

The other Auxilliares in my program and my friend from Japan, Chisako.

So it has been another week and and I have done and accomplished so much. Last weekend I went on my first excursion and experienced something completely new in Spain. One of the English teacher's, Jesus, at my school invited me to his wife's pueblo(village) for the fiestas (parties),called San Miguel taking place overfor the weekend. We drove two hours with his wife and daughter to a small town called Agreda in Castilla Leon. As soon as we arrived his daughter Merriam and I went to something that looked like a small bull ring. I had no idea what we were about to watch. Then all of sudden children came running out into the arena dressed up in a variety of Spanish costumes. A little later a small bull came out and began to chase the children as they jumped behind the walls. There was much excitement in the stands as the children continued to egg the bull on to chase them. The festivities in the bull ring continued on several other occasions through out the weekend where adults began taking part in the activity. I was even able to get a picture with the cape of a Matador(a person who fights a bull in a bull fight) after he had shown me how to use it.
Later I was able to experience the running of the bulls. The first night I watched it from the balcony of Jesus's apartment on the top floor that overlooked one of the main streets the bulls run on. The next day I was a little more daring and watched it from the street, standing behind the gates that the small bulls were locked into. It was really cool to be so close to them and to see all of the crazy Spaniards run into the streets chasing them with sticks and then jumping back behind the fence before they got attacked. During one of the running of the bulls I was sitting on top of the second row of fences with such a great view of the bulls. At one point the bull stopped right in front of where I was sitting and all the men in the street climbed up on top of the fence to where I was and so all I could really do was grab onto the metal pole hoping that the bull would not go any further. I then decided it was time for me to come down and find another place to watch them.

Overall it was great to experience the sense of community in a small pueblo. In the evenings there were bands playing on a stage in the center of the plaza. There were many groups of people dancing all wearing a certain color jacket to represent the group of friends or family they were in. The jackets were designed specifically for the fiestas that took place in Agreda. There was so much activity going on in such a small place with all of the apartments and bars surrounding the center plaza. I even experienced a Futbol (soccer) game between Agreda and its' neighboring town. I was soon able to realize that everyone knew everyone in this town. I was introduced to many family members and friends. It was a little overwhelming at first with all the Spanish I was exposed to but Jesus and his wife really made me feel welcome by showing me around the pueblo and giving me a historic tour of all the sites.
In addition to my adventurous this past weekend I went to Bilbao on Wednesday with the rest of the Auxilliares in Vitoria for our orientation where we met all of the other students in our program placed in other parts of the Basque Region. We are all given the title Auxilliares which stands for Conversation and Language Assistants. There are not only American Auxilliares but there are also ones from Canada, France, Germany and England who are all teaching their native language. Our role in the class room is to take over for 10-12 hours per week presenting information about our culture to the children and engaging them in English conversation. They are not tested on any of the material we give them; it is done to help improve their conversation and comprehension in the English language. The orientation was helpful and gave me a better idea of what I am expected to do in the classroom. On Tuesday I will be giving my first lesson. I have created a power point presentation on New Hampshire with a focus on Amherst to give them a better idea of where I come from. Once I get through my first lesson I feel like it will get easier for me to come up with other lessons to bring to the class. All of the English teachers at my school are extremely helpful in making my experience here as positive as it can be. I will keep you updated on how my first week of classes go.