I have a love hate relationship with public transportation. I love it because it is super convenient and you can go practically anywhere you need to/want to. I hate it because when it's not working, it is extremely frustrating! For example, this morning. I got to the metro station and the metro was one minute away. I always like seeing that not because I was running late, but because I just hate standing and waiting. Well, the screen that said "1 min" went black and that is never a good sign. It's like getting the blue screen of death on your computer and sure enough a few minutes later a voice came over the speaker and said that the train would be delayed due to technical difficulties. So yea, I have played that game before when you stand and wait and you just never know how long it is going to take. So, I decide to commit to taking the bus, which also takes awhile and involves waiting, but at least it's usually a guarantee that it is coming. So, I took the bus to the train station and ultimately arrived a half hour late to school...boooo. I wasn't too happy about that, but luckily since I don't work full days, I can make up the time in other classes, but still..not happy. I won't be able to make up time like that in the future.
Anyway, if you think that story is good, I have better one for you. It is from the other auxiliar at my school. She was on the train today and went to stand up to get off of the train and her bookbag strap was caught in the seat. Long story short she had to tug hard to get it free, but unfortunately the doors had shut and they were moving again. The next stop after we get off is in a different zone, so she had to pay extra to go back one stop to get to school. She said she made it with just enough time to spare. We can't make these stories up!
Anyway, school was pretty good today. My students are learning about clothing still in English and today in Science we covered the water cycle. I think it's pretty cool that they have Science in English. They learn sooo many more words than they would if they only had English in English. Anyway, in the afternoon, we had workshops for Carnaval. Carnaval is coming up next week so the students are getting their costumes ready for that. I think it's interesting that the students make the costumes at school and that they are practically the same. I think I mentioned this in my blog about last week, but yea. The theme is Peter Pan and I feel like in the U.S. the parents would get a note that said "Dress your child up like a character from Peter Pan," so the student would get to choose who they wanted to be and they will have somewhat different costumes than other students. However, here, the 1st graders got to choose between Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and Captain Hook. Naturally, all the girls chose Tinkerbell (they should have at least thrown Wendy in there to give the girls another choice, in my opinion). But yea, all the costumes are the same and they take a lot of class time away to prepare for Carnaval, but it's still fun for the students either way, so I guess I shouldn't critique it. Plus, I am quite impressed in what the teachers come up with for the students to make. I will give the teachers that, they are quite creative. :) Anyway, I was helping in the Peter Pan and Captain Hook classroom, specifically with Captain Hook and man, I cannot imagine being one teacher in a classroom with a bunch of 1st graders asking questions. Haha. I was helping about 10 students and that was more than enough for me, so yea..if I had 20 (I will someday), it would be crazy! On another note, all the students in my group got the part of their costume done that they were supposed to finish today! :) And, if I were the only teacher in the classroom, I would spend extra time explaining every step so there would be less questions.
After school, I started up my intercambio with Esther (from my school) again. She had been taking a class for the past several weeks, so we just now got back in the swing of things. We discussed some interesting cultural differences, for example, the difference between a major and minor at college. That was kind of tough to explain, but I got there and she understood. Also, we talked about English pronunciation that is difficult. For example, the difference between "it" and "eat." The "i" in Spanish sounds like the letter "e" in English, so if you pronounce "it" in Spanish and "eat" in English they are the exact same. Interesting...
After the intercambio, my night was good, besides the fact that I was reading and not paying attention on the train and I, too, missed my stop on the way back home. Whoops. Oh well, it wasn't too big of a deal because I stayed in the same zone and I was able to take the train two more stops to catch a different metro line. Ha. My day started and ended with interesting public transportation stories and I'm sure they won't be the last. Hope you all had great Tuesdays and that public transit didn't hassle you too much. :P
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