Finally.

It's here It's here It's here It's here It's here!

I'm going to visit Colorado :)

What else have I been up to lately?

Children have an uncanny way of showing you new things about yourself. Like, for example, how much less you have learned in three times the education.
Today I experienced my first Spanish immersion program. They were in kindergarten, and almost more fluent than I am after spending months in Spain. It’s enlightening, and just my first example of how much easier it is to become bilingual in early development. At age 5 the children spent the morning doing simple math and reading, and this was entirely in Spanish. I was impressed.
We spend the first part reading and coloring a new educational book, like that of today, “¿De Donde Viene?” followed by our Morning Meeting. This part is my favorite, with classics like show and tell and a countdown to the end of school, and with the children telling what they did that weekend... all in their second language. I even had the chance to learn new songs. Then it’s onto their math section. Today they tried to represent a choice number in several different ways, summed equations, coins, tally marks, and others. They continue in Spanish and I am beginning to wonder when the English education becomes a part of their school day! I guess I will ask tomorrow, but for now I am content with the way this morning went, in the language that I love surrounded by a great group of children I have grown to adore in such a short time.

* * *

The songs we use in class are necessary to keep in my future!
Un elefante se balanceaba
sobre la tela de una araña,
como veía que resistía
fue a llamar a otro elefante…
Dos elefantes se balanceaban,
sobre la tela de una araña,
como veían que resistía
fueron a llamar a otro elefante…
Tres elefantes...
Cuatro elefantes...
Doña semana tiene siete hijos,
Unos son blancos, otros negritos,
Lunes, martes, miércoles y jueves,
Viernes, sábado, y domingo el fin,
Que nunca trabaja y es un bailarín.
I’m sure there are countless songs to help children learn, but these are just a few. It’s cute how they continue to have witticisms even when they are in different languages and for different age groups. The kids love them even more than I do, if that’s even possible.

* * *

Can I begin by saying this work makes me feel alive?

Thank you. Today we had a really great math lesson and taught the children to weave. It wasn’t anything extremely special. But it was great to watch them working so hard on something so simple. They enjoy their day and I can tell, and I have no idea how Sra. Casper Sanchez has been able to transform them from playful children to respectful, controlled students. She even addresses them with the formal version of the Spanish language. I am just awestruck at how quietly they sit in front of her, raising hands and using countless other manners among their maestra and classmates.
They do not speak Spanish better than an adult native speaker by any means. But they speak it just about as well as me. As compared to English speaking kindergarteners, they have generally the same range of vocabulary. And they have it in English too. This means St. Paul has successfully produced bilingual students by age 5. And I think it sticks in their head better than mine too, which is just not fair.

gravity wins, I'm back.

I'm sorry, you were not forgotten.

Since I left you I left Spain.
I went to Paris.
Venice. Florence. Rome. Naples. Pompeii...

I went to Greece, at last.

And here I am, at home, wishing I was back in Spain again. Some life.