Since the school where I work is a bilingual school, some of the 'regular' classes (like science or technology class) are taught in English. On a side note, I think that I, instead of Lily, was given the P.E. classes just because I'm male. She was really interested in taking the P.E. classes, but the department head wouldn't budge. Anyway, two of my English classes are P.E. classes. That sounds weird, but it works out well. Nini, the P.E. teacher, always has a list of exercises or games that the kids will play, and she has to give out instructions, so I work with her to translate the instructions to English. The kids always get crazy, though, so Nini gets frustrated and has to shout over them, and she does it in English, so she gets her words mixed up or says awkward phrases. There's one phrase she uses at least once each class: "shut up." The first time I heard her yell, "Shut up!" to the students, I looked over at her because whenever she's unsure of a phrase, she'll ask me if it's okay. She didn't look at me, though--she was sure. Now I think it's funny to hear her yell that out because I don't think she realizes that "shut up" isn't normally used in a classroom.
This Tuesday, she had an interesting exercise for the kids. When she first explained it to me in Spanish so that I could translate, I had to have her explain it more than once because I kind of couldn't believe that's what she wanted the kids to do! First, they had to get into pairs with each pair having two jump ropes. Then one of the two kids had to chase the other one around the court, jump ropes in hand, and catch their partner. They were supposed to then sit the partner down and tie them up with the jump ropes! Crazy. It seemed that the kids loved it, though. It was a bit sadistic, but I always say my day isn't complete without a bit of sadomasochism.
In another class, I had prepared a small lecture/conversation about Halloween because the teacher wanted me to. I'm starting to really not like her teaching style, though, and I doubt I'll continue to put too much effort into the assignments she gives me ("bring a game that uses the possessive case," "something for Halloween," "get them to talk") because of what she did on Tuesday. I was talking to the kids about Halloween, and they were getting excited because they love it. They were talking about zombies, vampires, stuff like that, and they were even doing it in English! I was about to explain to them how trick-or-treating works in the U.S., but apparently they were talking too much so the teacher completely cut me off and said, "Ya, that's it, Halloween is over. No more. Now we'll just sit here quietly until the bell rings." They weren't being that bad! I've seen them plenty worse. So, we didn't even get to play the game that I had made up for the kids. I worked on that shit the night before! It sucked, and it's discouraging because it seems that a lot of the teachers don't really give the kids a chance. There are times when we work on English exercises in class, and I ask everyone in class to complete one exercise out loud. Some kids, though, tell me, "No, I can't," or, "I don't know how," as if that were enough for me to say, "Oh, okay. Next." I'm beginning to think that that's what some of the teachers do, though. When I push the kids who tell me that, though, and tell them just to try, that I'll help them, they usually get it correct. I don't know if they're being lazy or lack confidence.
Halloween was crazy in Málaga. We even had trick-or-treaters at our apartment! Some kids buzzed the apartment and yelled "Truco trato! Abre!" so I buzzed the door open. Sarah and I realized, though, that we didn't have any candy to give them, so we were running around the kitchen trying to find something. The best we could come up with was an apple, but I think we both remembered hating going to
those houses, so we didn't give them anything. Sad. Instead we just took pictures of them! Heh, one of the kids in the picture looks so annoyed, like, "I came for candy, not this shit."
So many people were dressed up on the bus ride downtown. I didn't expect it at all because not too many people celebrate Halloween here. But, I guess the younger people do. Only a few auxiliares dressed up. Sarah had devil horns on, Lily was a Mexican (she had a Mexican dress), Janica was a cat, and Simone and Christina went out as a domestic fight (black eyes, bruises, cuts).
Village Green--a bar that I've really grown to like, the place where I've heard Beck, Le Tigre, Los Planetas--was having a Halloween-themed night, but the music sucked. I requested M.I.A. ("Tienes eme ee ah?"), but they didn't have it. I think the DJ just didn't want to take requests. So, we ended up going to a club called White. Oh man, we finally found a place that plays hip-hop. They were playing Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, and a whole bunch more new stuff. We requested Outkast, but they didn't play anything. Or, at least I don't -remember- hearing any Outkast :-\. It was fun, but it had an expensive cover charge: 6 euros. Ouch. It was worth it, though. I don't know, though, these Spanish people love to start partying late. Going out at 11pm is lame. The night starts at 12am. People start going to bars at about 2am, and then the bars close at 4am. Then people move on to the discotecas, which don't close until 6 or 7am. I didn't catch a bus home that night (morning?) until 6:20am, and then I fell asleep on the ride home. I wouldn't have known when to get off the bus if Sarah hadn't woken me up. I don't know about that--I'm not hardcore enough for those kind of late nights.
