Welcome to my new home. Jerez de los Caballeros. When I am asked to describe it, I say “grand.” It has a feeling of great history and understandably so. Several conquistadors are from this area. The cobbled, narrow streets are built on a couple of hills. It’s easy for me to get lost, but I just look for a church near where I’m going and head that direction, taking care to avoid the drivers that are brave enough to drive on these winding streets.
I’ve done a bit of walking and have noticed the “vistas” or views are magnificent. I’ve adapted somewhat to living here. It’s amazing how easy it is to adapt. Now that I have a Spanish phone, access to the internet and groceries, I’m doing pretty well. The wine is delicious, plentiful and cheap.
Even though I’m living alone, I don’t feel lonely. I met an American who did the program, got married and stayed here. When I have to speak Spanish with everyone, I feel like I’m in a Spanish summer camp. Even better – I get paid for it.
Classes have started and I have started to get a feel for what my year will be like. I started in Zahinos in three classes with very basic information. “Hello. My name is Laura Parkinson.” Repeat. “I am from the United States. I am from a state called Kansas.” … Repeat. I did this while the kids took notes and then I quizzed them on how much they understood. The level of English is very basic. Knowing this will now give me a guide for how to prepare lessons that are fun and informative.
I have to think back to my first language class. Over a semester in my junior high experience, we had lessons in German, French and Spanish. I stuck with Spanish in later years, but in each class we were only able to cover the basic information such as introductions, colors and numbers. I will try to recall how I was able to learn that information. It is a bit different because I had a desire to do well in class. In some of the classes here, that may not be the case. If there is no need to learn English (ex: “I’m just going to work with my parents when I’m done with school,” then it will be hard to motivate the kids to learn English. If I every daydream out the window, though, I look out upon rolling green hills with … you guessed it: Cows. Real, Spanish cows.