Until I came to Spain, I never realized what an incredibly habitual creature I can be. Sure, I used to loathe getting up at 6:16 AM M-Th for a job I didn't particularly like, but there's something about getting up early in the morning that makes you feel so productive in a way. This week has consisted of me finally getting into a routine, which feels so much better for me.
This week is definitely a lot more cheery than last week, and it all has to do with my mindset, I think. I received a new student on Mondays to privately tutor- her name is Ima and she's pre-intermmediate and just wonderful. I'll be teaching her once a week for an hour and a half, and she was really good at English! Plus I got my nerd on when she asked me to explain the 4 different conditional tenses, which I happen to love for some weird reason.
I also adopted a new mindset for the group of 8 5 year olds. It's a temporary challenge, is how I view it. The classes end in mid-June, so it's not that long of a job, plus if I aim to be a good social worker than I need to be able to work with all ages. So I devised this lame sounding game for them, where I tacked up different pictures of animals all over the room and had them stand in the middle of the circle, and when I called an animal out, they had to run to the correct one. They liked it so much, we did it for an HOUR. I even had them take turns yelling out an animal for each other and it seemed to go well, and even though I had to raise my voice a few times, they're starting to listen to me more, even if they have no idea what I'm saying. I found myself getting into it, enjoying myself and realizing that they're not just little kids, they're little Catalan speaking kids- how adorable!!The director Eva, came over to me today to let me know that one of my students Pol, had told her how much fun he had in class with that game, so that made me feel really positive.
I also really like my class of 3 9 year old girls. They're getting the hang of "I'm going to go" parts of speech, and we spend lots of time with hangman, charades, making up songs, and sometimes I have to switch into Spanish to explain something, but it's just loads of fun, they're really wonderful to teach.
My optimism has made me see this all in a new way, and I'm so grateful. Constantly grateful- for the apartment I live in, for your support, for this job, for living here. One of my friends Gill writes a gratefulness journal and although it might sound lame, I'm starting to copy her in a way, as it keeps me humble, I think/hope.
Although my optimism might turn everything rosy, this is all coming in the nick of time as I'm still seriously stressing out about money. I wouldn't be able to stay here through August without this job, so I'm basically making enough just to survive, which doesn't bother me, I'm just happy to have found a job!
Fun fact: Ran into the gay part of Barcelona tonight in L'Eixample, the neighborhood where i live. It's called "Gayxample" and its about a 15 min walk from my apartment. Really amazing, I saw a drag bar with tv screens showing fake fish on them. Hysterical! I got a glass of white wine with my friend Staci at this place called Plata Bar, where there were rainbow lights and fabulous gay men. Felt almost like I was in Boystown, almost.
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