La corrida de la vida

That last post was a long one, and I commend any who made it through. I'll try to be more brief in future posts, but it is difficult! So much happens here! This week I began teaching English classes to adults, in addition to teaching the little ones at school. I have 15 "students", all of them teachers here at Setelsis who would like to learn/improve their English. Tuesdays class went very well. I started with present-tense verbs and we talked about where we live and what we do when we are at home. I had to keep reminding myself that they were at a low level, because I felt so silly saying "what do you do when you are at home?" "Do you cook?" "What room do you cook in?" But I really liked being at the blackboard, writing down words, helping them with pronunciation, and explaining various rules about the English language. Any ESL teaching tips are very welcome if you have them!

Another aspect of my life here is running. I love running, you can do it anywhere, no special equipment is needed. Running shoes and out the door I go. Running has allowed me to explore the different places I have lived in a much more intimate way than I would have otherwise. I find secret paths, and notice different buildings or little hidden gardens. Here in Solsona, there is a path that leads out into the countryside towards Font de la Frau, which is a fountain. As the path gets farther out of the city, it becomes surrounded by farms, and the smell of manure is rich and pungent. Then the path narrows and there is only single-file room to pass, which is fine since I run alone. I have not yet reached the fountain, and I do not know how far out it is, but every run I get a little farther before turning back and retracing my steps. One day I'll get there.

After my run today I returned to my apartment for some lunch and enjoyed the view from my balcony in the square. Life is good.