Mi cole.

I was greeted with the warmest of welcomes upon arrival to CEI Los Puentes yesterday. Within 5 mins of being there, a kid threw up, another one had a crisis, and the class hamster was dead.

Welcome to the life of an English teacher in a Primary school in Spain.

Other than that... I consider myself fortunate to be at Los Puentes. The principal, David, quickly became a good friend, and the other 14 teachers are delightful (though none of them speak a word of English.) I was shown around the school and introduced to each class by asking for students' names in English, then answering "Nice to meet you."

Post-Meet&Greet session, I sat with David as we discussed what I would be teaching for the year. I told him that I would prefer to plan with the other English teachers to map out the year. As I went into detail, proudly presenting my teacher vocabulary from undergrad (lesson plans, syntax/schema, language development, unit themes) my manifesto was met with a puzzled look and a broken English explanation... I quickly gathered that there aren't, in fact, "other English teachers."

I am it. Here I am. 130 students, 15 Spanish teachers, and one English teacher: me.

The good news? They have given me total freedom to teach content in a method that works for me. The bad news? I am writing an English curriculum from scratch... and I have never taught English. (Trying desperately to channel the creativity from student teaching... ideas welcome.)

While I find this position already a bit challenging, I am equally excited for the prospects of experimenting in a pedagogy I have never used before. My heart melts every time I hear a "hi-low" from a student, as they attempt to form the English words. I can feel myself growing closer and closer with this country and its people... I just hope there's no more vomit involved.