Believe it or not I actually do work
here. I haven't done an update about my job or the kids in awhile so
I think it's about time!
I'll start with Carnaval. It is a
festival that happens all around Spain, the most famous one is in
Cadiz. Their Carnaval rivals the one in Rio de Janero, Brazil. So,
hopefully next year I can check it out! Anyway, my school's carnaval
was earlier this year. Each grade level had a theme and they all did
a little song/dance outside of the school for all the students,
teachers and parents. The kid's teachers wrote the songs and
choreographed everything. The classes had about a month to learn
everything. They would miss a few classes every week to go outside
and practice, and it really showed. Everyone knew their stuff!
The 3 year olds were bumble bees
4 year olds were Native Americans
The 5 year olds were smurfs
First grade was a circus. Since they are one of the grades I teach I had to take a video. They are so cute!
The 2nd graders were pirates
The 3rd graders were superheros
4th grade were housewives and husbands
5th grade were football players
6th grade were cowboys and cowgirls
After everyone had done their song and
dance we all went to the patio for breakfast and the kids had free
time for the rest of the day. The teachers all went a little nuts
with their costumes. The group of cavemen went around capturing
everyone. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or the teachers!
attacked by cavemen
The bees were sleepy
Next update is about our first field
trip (well 2nd actually, the first was to the post
office...not that exciting). For those of you who don't know Almeria
very well there is a natural park called Cabo de Gata really close to
here. It's a really beautiful place and lots of movies have been
filmed in it. One of the towns there is called Las Salinas. Its a
really tiny town right on the beach which is known for salt mining.
This is where we went for the first field trip. The kids have been
learning about the water cycle and problems with pollution and
contamination in the sea and on the beach so the trip to Las Salinas
was perfect to learn about these two topics. When we got there we met
up with our guide who explained all about the salt mines (called
salinas, how clever, no?) he told us about where the water comes from
and the different processes of the salt mining. Almeria (like
Colorado) has over 300 days of sun every year so it's perfect for
salt mining and for learning about evaporation!
After learning about the salt mines we
went to an aviary to check out the birds. Then we headed down to the
beach to talk about the different parts of the beach and what they could
see. After filling out a worksheet the kids started “cleaning”
the beach. Most of them were more interested in finding shells and
rocks, but a few of them actually cleaned up some stuff. We found a
bunch of trash, lots of cans, a shoe, a chair...? and some other
stuff. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and it was pretty
chilly and windy so we couldn't go swimming, but I think everyone
still had a lot of fun!
Cleaning the beach
The 2nd field trip was to a
mountain town called Laujar about 2 hours away from Campohermoso. The
Andarax River (which is pretty dry) starts up in this part of the
mountains. It is a really cute little town and a really pretty area
to go hiking. The trail we went on is 15 kilometers and said it would
take 5 and a half hours to complete. Since we were with a ton of 6-8
year olds that would be like 15 hours of walking. So, we only went
for 3 kilometers. I would LOVE to go back there one weekend to do the
whole thing. It was so pretty and really reminded me of Colorado.
When we got to the beginning of the hiking area the kids ate
breakfast and then we headed out. I of course took a ton of pictures.
But I was limited because one of the girls, who is literally obsessed
with me, decided she wanted to be my walking partner so I didn't have
a free hand for most of the trip. When we got back from walking we
ate lunch and let the kids play around until a little before 4 when
we headed back. Luckily the weather was a lot nicer for this trip. It
was still cold, and windy (it's Almeria, it's always windy here) but
it was really fun!
There is a massive festival in Valencia every year called Las Fallas which celebrates Saint Joseph. This is a crazy festival where each neighborhood builds a giant paper mache statue (called a ninot) that goes along with some theme. And then at the end of the weekend they light them all on fire. Its a festival filled with lots of fireworks, smoke (obviously), mucha gente and lots of noise! Super fun.
Lucky me that Saher has friends who live in Valencia so we didn't have to pay for a hostel. We left Friday after work and got there around 11pm after getting changed we went out to walk around and see El Castillo which is a huge firework display that happens every night. After that we walked around to see some of the ninots and to party in the street (no container laws here!)
The next day we woke up and headed to the Plaça de l'Ajuntament to see (or rather, hear) the mascletà which is another huge firework display in the center of the city that happens every day at 2pm during the festival. After that we continued wandering around looking at the ninots and the rest of the city. We stopped for awhile while we ate lunch to watch the procession where the falleras take flower bouquets to the statue of the Virgin Mary. After that, more walking around until we went home for a bit to eat dinner and relax before heading out to party (in a field this time).
In the plaza. LOTS of cans
Mucha gente
The statue of Mary before the flowers were added
During the flower procession
hilarious
The boys
My favorite!
One of the main streets, all lit up.
During our field party
The next morning we woke up and went to the Arts and Sciences center to look at the buildings. I learned about these in one of my classes in college so I was really excited to go. They are absolutely beautiful! When we finished there we went back home and ate lunch (delicious Palestinian food called maklouba) and then headed back to Almeria, unfortunately since we all had to work on Monday we couldn't stay to watch them light the statues on fire. Over all it was a crazy awesome weekend. I can't wait until next year!
We're strange people
Yummy food! (what kind of blog post would it be if I didn't have at least one food picture.....)
