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.