Apparently I’m a science teacher?

            Tuesday morning came and Charlotte and I were both up early busily getting ready and trying not to be nervous for our first days of school. 

            I made myself breakfast, packed a snack, and was on my way.  I met up with the principal of my school, Fernando, and another teacher, also named Fernando, to catch a ride to school in Zahara.  The previous day the principal Fernando told me he and Patricia would have my schedule finished for Tuesday morning, but they hadn’t had a chance to get to it, so when we got there I was told to just relax and take a break in the staff room (because I clearly deserved a break by that point).

            Teachers came and went in between their lessons and as they did we introduced ourselves and it was a flurry of names and kisses on both cheeks.  I tried to write them all down but there are a few that escaped me.  One of the teachers I met introduced herself as the religion teacher, which surprised me a little as my school is public.  Later on, I had a nice chat with three other teachers about how teaching religion in a publicly funded school in the states would not fly, and they assured me it’s the norm here. 

            After hanging out for about an hour or so, one of the preschool teachers comes in with two adorable little 5-year-old twins.  She set them up with little games at the table while she did some work on the computer.  Being curious little ones, they asked me who I was, if I was married, and if I spoke Spanish.  Even though we were carrying on a conversation en español, they were pretty convinced that I didn’t speak it.  Little kids are funny.

            Finally, the time came.  It was 10:30, and I had already been at school for an hour and a half.  Fernando came into the teacher’s lounge and told me I would be working with the 2^nd grade science class.  Hold up, science?  I thought I was a language and culture assistant.  Well apparently I wear many hats, and one of them is science teacher. 

            I ended up having a great time with the 2^nd graders!  There are only 10 of them, and they are all precious and adorable.  We learned the names of joints in English.  It was about 20 minutes into my first lesson that I had a red pen in my hand and was checking homework.  I felt like such an adult, but I was also having a lot of fun and it didn’t really feel like work.

            I spent an hour with the 2^nd graders, and then it was time for recess.  A quick note on the school schedule in Andalucía: it’s awesome.  School goes from 9am to 2pm, AND they have a half hour recess/snack time in the middle of it.  The students don’t eat lunch at school, they go home and have a big lunch, the Spaniards' main meal of the day, when they finish their school day.  But the bottom line is they have only 4.5 hours of school a day. 

            After the break, I went to the 4^th grade science class.  They were very different from my first class, but I enjoyed them just as much.  There are 24 of them, so it was much louder.  At the beginning of the class, the teacher gave them time to ask me questions about myself, and some of their questions were pretty entertaining.

            Next I went to 1^st grade science, and oh my gosh those kids are adorable.  There are 17 of them and they speak a really good amount of English for kiddies so young.  Even though it was a science lesson, we went over the seasons and days of the week in English.  Next time I’m with them I’m going to teach them a days of the week song to the tune of The Addams Family theme song.  I’m pretty pumped for that.

            Before I knew it, 2pm rolled around and my first day was over.  I caught a ride back to Barbate with the school administrator (who I have since learned is also the gym teacher, which tickles me), and then got ready in a flurry to have lunch and pack an overnight bag before catching a bus at 3pm out of town.  The other auxiliares and I were heading to Jerez for our orientation!