In Spain, it's never goodbye; it's just see you later. "See you Later"
can be taken literally as "see you later in the day" but, most likely it means, "see you in a few
days" or " see you in a few weeks". When you see someone on the street in passing and you have no
intention to start a conversation, you say hasta luego. When you leave
the house for an hour or three days, you say hasta luego. When you leave a store or a restaurant, you say hasta luego to those near you. I guess it's just what you want it to be.
Well, the time has come in the school year to say "hasta luego" to all those who I have come to respect and love in Valladolid. It's bittersweet really... bitter because it's over, sweet because it happened ... bitter because I have to leave, sweet because it's summertime and that means I get to spend an extra long visit with my family.
I was skeptical about coming to a new school. What if it didn't feel right? What if I didn't like the teachers? What if I didn't get a day off? (and other super serious issues like lesson planning, etc.) Just, what if...???
1. What's your name?
- I would say "Whitney" and they would say "Winnie the Pooh?" And laugh. Of course. I kindly
told them, "No, like Whitney Houston." Then they understood, finallly!
2. Do you have any pets?
- Me: "....blah blah...and I have two donkeys."
- Every student: "Donkey? What is a donkey?"
3. What's your favorite alcoholic drink?
- Seriously, this is one of their favorite ones... to which I respond "fanta limon/vodka negro" -
then, I turn it into a cultural lesson: "In America, we don't have Fanta lemon nor black vodka,
so when I'm in Spain, I like to drink them together."
- Their response: "No lemon?????" (like it's the end of the world.)
4. Do you like sports? Actually, it's more like "Which side are you on, Madrid or Barcelona?"
- I tell them I played basketball and that I'm not a fan of football/soccer and again, they look at
me like "are you an alien? you DON'T like football?" (again, the end of the world!)
5. What is your surname/last name? Do you have Tuenti (Spanish facebook)?
- After telling them it was Griffin, I had to pause to let them discuss (in Spanish) that I have the
same last name as the family from Family Guy. Then, I would get the next question....
6. Is your father's name Peter?
- To which I would respond, "No, and I don't have a brother named Stewie."
7. Do you have any brothers and sisters?
- To which I would say, "No..." and they would make clicky noises and make a hand gesture
meaning "she has money" (As they do for every person who is an only child.)
6. What is your favorite sport? (clearly, it's not the same as number 4.)
7. Where do you live in Valladolid?
- It was simple: "In the Plaza Circular with two roommates." Although most times they didn't
understand my American accent on "Circular"...
8. How old are you?
- Me: "I'm 24."
- The boys: "I'm 18....(with a sense of 'date me, please!')" or "My brother is 24..."
9. Do you have a boyfriend?
- I said "Yes, one in every country." (I wish!)
10. Do you speak Spanish?
- Simple answer: "No... I only speak a little "hola/adios/me llamo Whitney..." I couldn't have the
students knowing I understood/spoke Spanish because I knew they wouldn't put any effort
into speaking English in the classroom. I still remember one day when I said "hola" to a 7th
grader and she about died. She ran to her friends and said "Whitney me ha dicho 'hola'..."
("Whitney just said "hola" to me!") I mean, it's not rocket science, even my mom knows how
to say "hola". haha
I had quite the range of classes... from 7th graders to seniors. But they were all really good students, for the most part. I think the worst behaved class was actually one of my favorites, not because they were annoying, but because it was an annoying/funny/entertaining sort of thing. You know, the type of class that asked you "what does the word _______ (insert any bad word here) mean?" on the first day of school. I told them that I would teach them these words the last day of the year... well, today was the last day and what was the first thing they said to me when they came in the room? "Teacher, today we are going to talk about all the bad words, right?" And, keeping my promise, I did. Actually, I didn't teach them anything new, but we just reviewed their vocabulary, which was, not-surprisingly, pretty large. We also made a video where they told me their deepest, darkest secrets! My favorite lines are "Ivan loves you." "I adore you" and "Vamos a echarte mucho de menos." (We're going to miss you!)
During my last days of school, some students made me a cake... another class threw me a surprise party! And, the best part was that they were the high school seniors - it really made me feel special when the oldest students felt like they got close to me! We took an abundance of photos that I will take with me next year... and of course, upload to el Tuenti, Spanish Facebook.
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| The girls from 2A - I'll miss you all! |
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| Surprise!!!!!! You all were so nice to throw me a party! :) Good luck at University! |
I experienced my first Spanish graduation (no cap toss here!) and reception. Boy, was it a night to remember. The reception was drinks and snacks in the school cafe/gardens. After, all the students went for dinner (at 9:30pm) with the teachers before going to an open bar for drinks (lots of drinks) and dancing into the late hours of the morning ...followed by breakfast. What a way to end an era. (Remember my students can legally drink at 18!)
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| Instead of tassels, they get stoles! |
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| Enjoying the dinner with Dani, one of the seniors, who kept filling my wine glass to the top! |
Later in the evening, I pulled the "teacher" card when all the boys were in front of the girls at the open bar. I told the bartender, "Excuse me... I'm the teacher and we are girls and girls should be served first." So, he did. It got shocked looks from the boys and cheers from the girls! After a while, the boys began to ask me to dance - as I was bombarded in twos - one boy would take my drink, the other would ask me to dance. Dancing was really fun actually; I even pulled an Ellen's Dance Dare on Antonio, one of the fellow teachers - which also got the students excited! I really had such a nice night, if only I could have lasted until breakfast. haha
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| 4am and still kicking it at Sotobanco! |
Thursday, April 21, we spent the day at a theme park in Madrid. Several students from 4th level (Sophomores) asked me to go with them for their end of the year trip... I didn't know that it was actually a total of 80 students from 7th graders to sophomores and was pleasantly surprised to spend the day with so many of them. We rode roller coasters and swings that overlooked Madrid and the park, I was coaxed onto the log ride (I hate water rides!), we went on another ride that drops like 10 stories in 3 seconds, and walked through a haunted house "La Casa de Terror" (which was actually really scary. I may or may not have held one of my student's hands the entire time and held onto the arm of another. I was literally screaming my head off around every corner and wouldn't have been surprised if Roberto's hand was broken and Fran's arm had bruises that looked like my hands!)
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| High above Madrid! |
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| Sophomores/What a fun day we all had together! :) |
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| Proof i was on the log ride. I barely got wet! YES! |
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| That's me on the far right! Hands up, I had to look 'cool'! |
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| Two of my favorites, Ivan and Krasi, waiting in the longest line of the day! You should have seen Ivan's ponytail I made him... super mono! |
Saying goodbye to private lesson students is always a mixture of emotions. While I got closer to some and others were more of a "job", I will always hope they are doing well - studying hard - and having the time of their lives as they grow up! Some I have friended online, others aren't even in primary school. When you've spent a year playing with a 4 and 6 year old, you hope they've learned more than the word..... (big drum-roll here).... poop. But I can't say confidently that they could remember any other words on command. Well, at least it was fun!
In Mary and George's last class, we made jewelry from play-doh. Maria wanted to take photos and videos like models. So we did. The video started out with them talking about going to the bathroom in the toilet. "I'm Jorge and my sister Maria goes poop in the toilet... I'm Maria and I do too and he does too." When I asked them to "say something in English", I got the following responses... "No!" and "Poop!" - well, at least they understood me. Por lo menos! While I'll miss their cute personalities and high energy, I won't miss playing Twister every Monday and Wednesday. No more right-hand-red for a few months!
"You're still here?"
After finishing up classes, and saying goodbyes, I wanted to
spend as much time as possible in the school, around the people who made me
feel so comfortable. Basically, people
kept saying “You’re still here? You’re
not in the USA? When do you go? Do I have to say my official goodbye,
yet?”
One of the mornings back at the school, I was gifted the school magazine. Last year, in the primary school, I got two pages full of info/photos/goodbyes/good luck wishes about me. This year, I got two and a half pages! My “spread” consists of photos, an interview done by a class, and a writeup/memoria that I wrote titled: “How to be a language assistant and not to die in the attempt” (I didn’t name it, but it fits the cause).
The first paragraph is as follows: Whitney Griffin came from the United States in September to work in our center as a language assistant. He work and good character have helped not only better our linguistic competencies but also our knowledge of the culture and traditions of her home country. The students quickly grew close to her, for them she was "la Whitney", and all the teachers already consider her one of them. Here we offer you some of her reflections about her work in our country. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WHOLE ARTICLE (pgs 30-32)
After reading the article, I realized that my English has gotten… worse. To the following question: “Who is your favorite singer?” I of course answered: “Justin Timberlake”. But, I followed it up with: “Justin Bieber… no!” (I’m officially “old” because most of them don’t know who Jt is. JT!!!!!) In Spanish, they put “no” at the end of a sentence and either it negates the anterior phrase or it turns it into a question. I probably should have said “Not Justin Bieber.” So, just remember if I’m speaking to you and I put “no” at the end of a sentence, I’m asking you a question.
For example: (I’ll probably be using this phrase often… I haven’t been to a movie in MONTHS.)
Incorrect: We’re going to the movies tonight, no?
Correct: Are we going to the movies tonight?
Another day in the school, when I was walking home, Antonio, a fellow teacher, stopped and offered to give me a ride home. We had an African heat wave come through Valladolid/Spain for a few days, over 100 degrees every day… so I JUMPED when I heard the horn – jumped right into his car. I probably would have jumped into a stranger’s car, it was THAT hot. In Missouri, it’s hot – normally 90/100 (37-40 for my Celsius amigos!) but I'm not walking around in the heat! Instead of taking me home, he invited me to come for lunch with his parents since they lived just near my place. Of course, I don’t turn down a good, home cooked meal and good company, so I went and we had a really nice time! Later, he took me around some pueblos in the Valladolid province. I hadn’t had the chance to visit many pueblos, so again, I was super excited for the adventure. We made a nice circle and were able to visit Nava del Rey (The town where Antonio lived when he was younger.), Medina del Campo, Tordesillas, and finally *Simancas, where we had dinner… croquetas, ensalada mixta, revuelto, roasted baby lamb/lechazo! YUM!
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| Nava del Rey on the horizon. |
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| Castillo de La Mota is a reconstructed medieval fortress from the 11th century in Medina del Campo. |
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| The great view of Simancas overlooking the Pisuerga River. |
Another day, I met with Maribal to go to her house for the
afternoon. I’ve been going every Tuesday
for lunch for as long as I can remember. It’s Tuesday as I’m writing this… and
it’s going to be strange come lunch time and I’m not headed to her house with
her family. Well, the last lunch was
extra special. We went swimming (ok, I sunbathed) and then had lunch out on the
back patio. After, we took naps in the
garden… and later went to Palencia,
another town near Valladolid.
Palencia, a town of about 50,000 people, was actually quite
surprising! It has preserved many older buildings and offices (pharmacies) and
they are seen sporadically throughout the city.
I hadn’t ever really heard anything nice about Palencia, but I decided
for myself that it’s a nice place. I
think it could bave been a nice experience to live there vs. Valladolid city
because the people seemed friendly.
There was so much life in the streets and in the plazas; it had a small town feel to it, a safe non-city feel. I like that feeling!
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| Calle Mayor in Palencia. |
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| Palencia had old charm, like this building, the Colegio de Villandrando. |
I feel like I know Castilla Leon really well now, sad to say I waited to long to venture outside of Valladolid to get to know its pueblos, but I'm happy I finally did!
End of the Year Dinners
So, goodbyes weren't getting any easier. I had a final dinner with Concha and Maribal at Maribal's house with both of their families and it was a fantastic way to say goodbye... I've gotten so close to both of them that it's strange to think that I won't be there next year with them!
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| Wonderful food... but even better company! |
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| Hey, hey the gang's all here! |
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| The retirees and their co-workers, giving a toast! Arriba, abajo, al centro.... |
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| My right and left sides, Jose Angel and Concha, my tutor! |
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