The First Three Weeks

I have officially been on Spanish soil for three weeks, and the passage of time is apparent in the number of English words I have been forgetting. A good sign!

Solsona is a small town of just under 9,000 inhabitants, sitting in the valley of the "prepirineos" as they are called here. Catalán is the official language, a blend of Spanish and French is the best way I can describe this language. Everyone knows Spanish, though sometimes it is a struggle for them, and often I am told that I know Spanish better than them! A mentira to be sure, but nice to hear all the same.

I am teaching at CEIP Setelsis, a primary school here in Solsona, and I work with 5th and 6th graders in their English class and the Art in English class. The kids are great and have been told that I ONLY speak English, so as to encourage them to speak in English. Sometimes they look at me a little skeptically and say "no hablas catalán NI español???" and I have to just shrug my shoulders and act as if I don't know what the heck they just said to me. Mildly humiliating, but it is all in the name of education! Sometimes when they can't find any words but want to connect with me they say things like "Seempsons?" or "faceboook?" or "hannah moantahna?" Ah, American culture. But by far my favorite moment so far is the exercise they do at the end of class each day: each student must go around the room and say "my eeenglesh werd for today ees_____" And on my first day at school one student, bless her little heart, said "my eenglish word for tooday ees Deborah". Made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

As the days and weeks and months slip by, so too my adventures will pile one on top of the other and I will share them here.