I could say that everything has been like a bed of roses here in Madrid, but I would be lying.
I haven't been updating my blog because I have been incredibly sick. About a week and a half ago, everyone in the hostel started getting sick. Mostly coughing and such, but since my immune system hates me, I have been coughing nonstop, feverish, aching, and haven't had a voice for 4 days. Almost everyone I met in the hostel is sick, which isn't the most convenient way to be starting out a new job. While I knew I would miss home, being under the weather has taken it to new heights. I can honestly say I have never missed my parents and my family as much as I have the past few days. Just seeing their faces on Skype makes me break down every single time. Of the last week, today has been my best day. My cough is finally breaking and I'm starting to feel like myself again.
Friday, October 1st, was my first day at el Colegio Antonio Machado. I must say, from the minute I walked into the school I felt welcomed. Walking through the hallway, I noticed there were posters that the assistants before me had made. Each previous assistant had been asked to make a poster about their life back in their home country, and it was really cool to see them as soon as I walked through the doors. I was welcomed by the headmistress, Margarita, and the secretary, Josephina. They took me under their wing and went over logistics involving health insurance, my contact information in Spain, etc. After that, I met Marta, who will be overseer. Marta is the head English teacher for the entire school. She took me on a tour of the school, and we chatted for a while. These three ladies are so welcoming and gracious, it was hard not to fall in love with them on the first day.
Once the tour of the school was over, it was almost recess. The teachers gather in the staff room everyday and a cart of snacks is brought in from the cafeteria. I couldn't believe the spread! There were all kinds of muffins, fruit, candies, croissants, coffee, tea, juice, you name it! While the teachers were gathering, I met one of the other assistants that is working at the school with me named Kiran, who is from the United Kingdom. We chatted over juice and muffins about our experiences since we had arrived in Madrid, and I'm really looking forward to working with her.
After recess, the teachers resumed their classes, and Kiran and I were invited to join Marta to her 2nd grade science class, which is taught in English. The children were certainly curious about us from the moment of our arrival. Every now and again, a group of students would go by in the hallway and they would all point and say "Oh my gosh, it's them!!" It was really heartwarming to see their excitement. While we sat in the class, we could obviously tell they were very interested in us. The teacher allowed them to ask us a few questions about ourselves, which satisfied their curiosity enough to continue on with the scheduled lesson. The students were learning about the bones and the different parts of the body. I was amazed to see how much the children understood, since the whole lesson was in English. Mind you, these are 7 year olds! Most of them were able to answer the questions that they were asked in complete sentences, but it took a little prying. It's been a while since I was around kids this young, and I forgot how squirmish they can be. I looked around the room towards the end of the lesson and they all had ants in their pants. Once class was over, they headed off to lunch, and Kiran and I left for the day. I loved everything about the school, the teachers, and the kids, which only made me more eager to start teaching!
Over the weekend, the sickness kicked it to high gear. I didn't get out of bed most of the weekend, which was a problem in and of itself since I apparently contracted bed bugs from the hostel. Saturday, I woke up and my voice was completely gone. Most of Saturday and all of Sunday I was confined to my bed, sick as a dog, and being eaten alive. I was absolutely miserable. Since I'm in a new country, I had no idea how to find a doctor, and what my insurance would cover. I emailed a few people from the Education Program and from my school to see if they could help me, but I knew it would probably be Monday or Tuesday when they got back to me. So, yesterday, I bit the bullet and woke up early to go to school. When I got off the metro at the stop, I saw Kiran and the other assistant also working at our school, Cassy. We ended up walking to school together, and they could clearly tell that I wasn't feeling well. I started breaking down about how miserable I was, and right there in the middle of the walk to the school, I started bawling in front of two people I had just met. I felt so vulnerable, but I couldn't hold it in. When we got to the school, I had calmed down a bit. We sat in the staff room while Margarita, Josephina, and Marta were trying to make our schedules. When they came into the room, they could tell something was wrong. I told them that I had tried to find a doctor, but I couldn't speak because I didn't have a voice, and that I felt horrible. That's all it took. Those three women went at the issue like a swat team. It was literally like "OKAY! Josephina, get the phone! Marta, get the phonebook! All systems on go!!" We arrived at the school at 10am, and these three women had me an appointment at the local doctor's office by 10:15am. They arranged everything, printed me a map, and wrote down exactly what I should say when I got there. With tears in my eyes, I graciously thanked each of them. Marta walked me out, and when we got to the door, she gave me a big hug, kissed me on the forehead, and said "You're far away from your Mommy, and sometimes you just need a kiss on the forehead. Get well. Don't worry about school. Everything will be fine."
The doctor gave me a three types of medicine, and today I'm feeling a lot better. I'm still hoarse, but I'm hoping my voice will be back to normal tomorrow. I'm going to go to school in the morning and see how it goes. I'm so anxious to work with the kids!
Yesterday was also my friend Jamie's birthday, so Kayliegh, Jenae and I went out to dinner with her to celebrate. It was kind of funny because we're all kind of sick and miserable. We went out for Indian food, which I'm not very familiar with, and we had a great time. Since we moved out of the hostel, we have all been scattered across the city in our respective apartments and neighborhoods. I miss those girls so much. Just seeing them last night made me feel tons better. We swapped homesick stories and such, which definitely comforted me, knowing that I'm not the only one that goes through this. Hopefully, everything will get back to normal once we're all over this sickness.
So, in a nutshell, that's why I haven't updated this blog lately. I've been so ill and sickly. But, I'll quickly recap a few things that happened before I came down with the plague...
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Jamie, Jenae, Nicole, Devon and I went to visit the Palacio Real last week. The palace is supposedly where the king lives, but he doesn't really live there. It's more of a historical landmark of sorts. It was so majestic and romantic. We had a really fun time that day exploring the palace, the gardens of the palace, and another side of the city we hadn't seen before.
Another thing that was interesting last week was a nation-wide strike that took place. Workers throughout the country were protesting the minimum wage, safety laws, and general working conditions. Since we were still staying in the hostel, we were right in the middle of the city. There were parades with hundreds of people all throughout the streets, almost all of the stores and businesses were closed for the whole day. I was lucky enough to get a video of one of the parades that came right by our hostel.
Before everyone started feeling so poorly, we did take advantage of the nightlife of Madrid. The whole group at the hostel went out for a few nights, and it was great fun. I never thought I'd say it, but I miss the hostel...even though they gave me bed bugs.
Will post again soon with updates from my first real day of school and more pictures!
