School of Rock

Imagine how you felt on your first day of school when you were in second grade, and you may be able to understand how I felt this morning. I visited my school, El Colegio Cuidad de Roma, this morning, and I can not be more excited about my job. My school ROCKS! The director of the bilingual program, Carmen, gave me a tour of the small building, and she introduced me to almost the entire staff along the way. With each encounter came warm smiles and kisses on both cheeks. Some teachers know English and greeted me with a rough “It’s nice to meet you,” while others used the Spanish, “Encantado.” I had never given much thought about the staff that I will be working with until today, and I can already tell that the staff at Cuidad de Roma is friendly, helpful, and eager to know you. I also learned that there are three other teaching assistants ("axiliares de conversación") at the school, and all of them are returning for a second year. I guess the job and the school are just too good to turn down.

I made friends with a new 2nd grade teacher, Natalia, during the break in the teachers lounge. She told me that the school has a stellar reputation among madrileños, and we should both consider ourselves very lucky to be working there. Natlalia is young (I’m guessing late 20s), and I think we’ve bonded already during our conversation over our cups of tea & coffee, a pear, and some churros. I look forward to getting to know her better.

I sat in on a 1st grade class for half an hour with Sra. Raquel. She spoke in English almost the entire time, and the kids seemed to follow along without much trouble. The children were absolutely adorable. When little girl sitting in the tiny desk chair next to me touched my earrings, I asked, “¿Te gusta?” She nodded and replied, “¿Hablas castellano?” When I let on that I did speak Spanish, she whispered across the desks to her amiga, telling her that I knew Spanish too. It was precious.

Although I still don’t know my class schedule (Pilar, a larger woman who also spoke English, explained to me that she’s having issues with the schedules this year and hasn’t made them yet) or what grades I’ll be working with, I can’t complain a bit. My colegio is a well respected, well run, and well taught school, and I’m thrilled about my job for the coming year.

This past Sunday, Sarah and I took our Sunday drive, Spanish-style, before relaxing in Retiro (see previous post). We took a train from the Madrid Atocha station to Alcalá de Henares (a 35 minute ride) and walked another 10 minutes to the Alacalá bus stop. There we hopped on the bus to Camarma de Esteruelas (a 12 minute ride). This is the commute that Sarah will take to reach her school in Camarma. And hopefully, the address of our new home won’t add to it too much (we’re still working on that)!

We’re still living in the hostel and we’re still hunting for the piso. . .