Covered in chalk & stickers. Just another day.

The days are passing by in a seasonal blur. The difference between yesterday, today, and tomorrow are told by the additional number of leaves that have fallen to the ground. At this point in my Madrid experience, I feel as though life is simple and relatively uneventful. While I typically prefer to be busy with a myriad of activities, I have welcomed this unusual phenomenon, because it has allowed me to prepare in advance for all my classes, offered me free-time to relax, and has created a stress-free bubble to protect me from the chaotic city-life. However, this situation is not so helpful when trying to remain faithful to the blogosphere. Thus, I dutifully report the more mundane on-goings of what’s happened in Madrid post my trans-Atlantic excursion last week.

I have started a special project with my 5th graders. We have Pen Pals with some South Carolina students in a Furman friend’s Spanish class. My kids are writing in English, and Lisa’s are writing in Spanish. We’ll swap letters throughout the year, and hopefully it will be an insightful cultural exchange project through second languages.

Within the next couple of weeks, my school is supposed to get a new assistant to replace the one who never showed up a month ago. With this new mystery person, my schedule will undoubtedly change again. So, who knows if I’ll continue working with both 5th grade classes, two 3rd grade classes, a class of 1st grade, and my class with 5 year olds?!?

Last Friday, I walked into school wearing a black dress with a boisterous orange undershirt, whose caption underneath a print of a black cat read “Trick or Treat,” a flimsy witch’s hat, and carrying a broom. Whenever I walked into a classroom, I was immediately verbally assaulted with “You’re a witch!” to which I replied, “Yes! But I’m a good witch!” I was a little surprised by the lack of Halloween-gusto this year at school, and Cristina was my only co-teacher who celebrated the scary holiday with her 3rd graders. We made a “magic potion,” created to turn children invisible on Halloween night. Nacho, as you can see in the picture on the right, was really excited about the potion. I guess he didn't realize that the potion was made of caffeine-free coke and gummies instead of bat’s blood, cow brains, lizard guts, spider legs, and other things I was asked to make up on the spot that day in class! Javi and Victor, two cheeky boys, told me today that it worked… in their dreams.

Halloween is a relatively new holiday to Spain (many think it’s a strictly American holiday and should stay that way), but this year, the madrileños seemed to have really jumped on board with party. Walking around the city center on Saturday night, I had to dodge witches, vampires, mangled victims, and an assortment of other creatures. I, on the other hand, was not in costume, because I went to the Teatro Español to see a flamenco show. This past week the production of Sangre Nueva Jóvenes Flamencos introduced up-and-coming flamenco artists from all over the world. I saw the final show of the week, which featured two male singers and one dancer, who was accompanied by a crew of singers and instrumentalists. I’ll admit that I enjoyed the guitarists and the dancer more than the singers, but I was glad for having the chance to sit in one of Madrid's nicest theaters for the evening.

One thing that seems normal after living in Madrid for a while—but something I don’t want to take for granted—is that I have a long list of museums to visit at my convenience (and during their free hours). On Saturday afternoon, SK and our two newest Scottish friends, Elaine and Patrick, checked out the Museo de América, one museum I had yet to visit. Oh, how it made me reminisce about my time in Chile and stirred my heart for Latin America! They even had a small display in honor of Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, which is celebrated mainly in Mexico. This lady was having the time of her life!

I played in another volleyball game on Sunday. Unfortunately, the other team was better than us and we lost. I think I played pretty well myself, but my team is a rag-tag bunch who needs to play together more so we can work as a team. We’re hoping to find some practice space and time on week nights. Next time… we’ll show them who’s boss. ¡Toma!

And even though things seem less exciting here in Madrid, I have found comfort in the familiarity of the normal. It’s great to be able to go to my favorite bars/restaurants and have the servers know me… or to walk into my bank for the first time in a few months and be recognized by face and not by number… or to buy some fruit from the Cuban vendors across the street from my apartment door, like I occasionally do. Also, I have been pleasantly surprised to walk through the park, the airport, or the street and have random people—like a former co-workers, Pastora Cathy, or a nameless friend from the Internet Café down the street—call out my name, “Laura! Hailey,” and stop to have a conversation with me. But best of all, it is a joy and a pleasure to walk into the homes of the families for whom I have worked for over a year now. I may walk out covered in stickers or traces of glue and markers smeared on my hands, but I normally walk out with a smile.