TEFL classes and pictures

Well, I've been slacking and I know it. But I'm going to try to be responsibile with this, so here goes. I've finished my class and now I'm working on finding a job. I learned a fair amount about teaching English, which as I have found is quite different from teaching anything else. You have to talk as little as possible so as not to confuse the students. This has been a challenge for me, but I think I've gotten better. The solution seems to be being very prepared and using gestures and pictures. They have taught us to teach only in English and not to speak any Spanish, because it will seem like a crutch to the students. During the class we got to practice teaching to real English learners. I taught 6 lessons, 2 with a partner, to all 4 levels that we offered: Low beginner, high beginner, low intermediate, and high intermediate. It was impressive how much the ability level changed between each level. Low beginner was working on past tense verbs (ex: buy/bought), low intermediate was working on modals (You should have...), and high intermediate was like a conversation class. Some of the classes were difficult because of the students and others because the page in the book I was supposed to teach didn't give me much to go on. Either way, I got my certification on Friday and I'm good to go! I can now use that to teach anywhere in the world. That's a pretty nice job prospect.This is about 2/3 of the class and most of the teachers at breakfast

I had a good time with the other students in my class, which is a good thing because we spent a lot of time together. When all we had to do was plan lessons, we got a little silly at some times. On the last day we had breakfast at one lady's apartment and then the program took us out for a fancy graduation dinner.

Today started the job search process. I spent the afternoon in a cafe looking into several institutes that had been recommended to me and crafting a cover letter to them in Spanish. Once I get this email done, I hope that I'll be able to send it out to several companies. Tomorrow I'm going to work on crafting a classifieds ad for the paper to get private lessons.

Here are some pictures of my friends here:

First few days are going well

Hello, Hello...

Reporting in from Buenos Aires! My classes have begun and everything is going well. Let's see what all has happened since I last wrote. I've settled in quite nicely. Everyone in the dorm is very nice and I've been able to speak a lot of Spanish, which is wonderful for me. I've enlisted a few friends as my Spanish teachers, so that makes life fun. Julio (from Peru) is constantly for mixing up pensar/creer (to think), ser/estar (to be) and saber/conocer (to know). It's confusing because all of those pairs mean the same thing in English, so I have to work extra hard to differentiate when I need to use one over the other. I can already tell that I'm getting better and he tells me that I'm doing well, so at least we're making progress.

Today I started my class and after a bunch of difficulties with the program that I'm in, I got it all worked out. My program (GIC Argentina) sends its TEFL students to the TEFL International classes, but they never told me that or where to go or when. It's all sorted out, so no need to worry about me. The other people in the group seem to be very nice. As far as I can tell the daily routine is classes from 10-1, lunch from 1-2, then classes from 2-5. The school is about a 25 minute walk from my dorm and is pretty much a straight shot. There is one Argentine and one Brit and the rest are Americans in my 14 person class. There are 2 older women (in their 40s-50s probably), 2-3 people in their 30s, and the rest seem to be in their 20s. We went to lunch together in several different groups so it was nice to get to talk to a few people then. It seems that the last bit of the day is set aside to prepare the lesson that we present the next day. So basically, they teach us one way to teach vocabulary/grammar/etc and then we create a lesson to give to the class the next day. The lessons seem boring to me, but I guess it will all work out.

It looks like I might be getting an apartment with 3 other people from my dorm, which would be wonderful. They are the 3 people that I like the best here, so that would be awesome. They are Katherine (from England), Francisco (from Columbia), and Julio (from Peru). We've just started the search, and once we get some things figured out between us and figure out the system, it should work out well.

That's all for now. I'll post some pictures soon!

Arrival - check

So I'm here and fairly settled in. Everything on the airport end of things went very well. No delays, I had an extra seat to myself and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. I'm getting to know some of the other kids at the dorm and they seem very nice. Apparently, I'm going to go with a bunch of them to a local amusement park tomorrow. It's about an hour away and we're going to take the train. I'm not a huge amusement park fan, but hey, I need to meet people, so why not.

I ate lunch and dinner at the dorm. There is a supermarket right across the street and several more in the area, which is very nice and convenient. I didn't get too exotic off the top, just a turkey sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner, but it worked. I was curious to see what everyone else does and there seems to be a wide range, but the general consensus is that its a lot cheaper to eat in, so they do it. I've watched a lot of TV today. The TVs are in the kitchens, so that's where people tend to congregate. There is a lot of American TV and English movies, but all have Spanish subtitles, so that's really helpful because I can hear the English and read the Spanish. The people have a wide range of Spanish abilities. About half of the residents are native Spanish speakers, mostly from Argentina and Colombia from what I can tell. The rest are mostly Americans and I've met one British girl as well. I've been able to follow a good number of Spanish conversations, even catching a few things and having to help some of the other Americans, so that's a good sign. The accents are definitely different and young people talk fast, so those are both barriers that I'm going to have to learn to deal with. The dorm's website is: http://www.azul-residencia-universitaria.com/ and there are pictures there. Here is a picture of the building. I'm on the top floor.
Things went pretty slowly today. I went on two little walks around the area, just searching out what's here. I also took two naps for a total of 2.5 hours, which was wonderful. My bed is comfortable and has a really soft fleece blanket that makes me want to curl up and go to bed every time I sit on it. It's chilly here, but not really cold. When the sun went down and the wind started to blow it was brisk, but after walking around I warmed up enough to take off my scarf again.

Apparently this is a party dorm, so we'll see how that goes. Some people were talking of going to Palermo (the hip district) tonight, but that won't happen til midnight probably. This is why afternoon naps are key according to my roommate. I did have this really weird feeling when I woke up from my first nap that I had forgotten where I was. I figured it out quickly, but it was funny. There is enough English spoken here that it feels a lot like a hostel. Everyone is here to have a good time, they just hang around more and cook more.

I've written a lot now, so I'll stop, but I'll be sure to update after the amusement park adventure.

Receive Blog Posts by Email and Skype

I figured out a way to receive blog posts by email that I wanted to pass on to you. This way, you won't have to check the blog to see if I've posted. It will be delivered directly to your in box.

I'll outline it in a few easy steps:

1) Go to the bottom of the page to the link that says "Posts (atom)". Either right click on it and copy the address, 0r click on it and then copy the address (URL) for that page.

2) Go to http://SendMeRSS.com

3) In the box that says "RSS Feed URL" paste the address from my blog

4) Enter and confirm your email address (and click that you agree to the terms)

That's it! The posts will be delivered directly to your inbox!


Also, there is a great online phone service called skype that is free and will be a great way to keep in touch with me while I'm in Argentina. My friend Alli has just left for a year in Israel and she posted very specific instructions for setting up skype on your computer. Go here to see her instructions: http://allichatool.blogspot.com/2008/08/s-is-for-skype.html. Then you can search for me by my name "Stephanie Berman" or by my skype name "waterat901." Then we can talk just as if we were chatting on the phone.

Hopefully that will help us keep in touch while I'm away!

Home again, home again

Happy 4th of July to everyone. It's a wonderful welcome back to the USA.So yes, I'm back. The last part of my trip went well. I had a nice time with Luca in Bologna. We relaxed and watched some tennis and read as well as doing the tourist stuff that I love. I got my taste of Italian pasta and pizza which is very good. On Wednesday I spent the afternoon in Rome. I walked all over the city and saw a lot of the sights. I saw the Colosseum (but didn't go in) and the Trevi Fountain and went in to explore St. Peter's cathedral. It was a very hot day and I was king of ready to head home, but I'm glad I got to do see it all. I splurged and stayed in a hotel near the airport that night because my flight was so early in the morning. It was very nice and cool to have my own room. The bartender at the hotel was

really nice and made me a pizza, that was normally sold frozen (but was cheaper than that at the restaurant). I woke up at 3:45 the next morning and both of my flights went smoothly. On
the long flight (Munich to Washington) I was sitting next to an 18 year old from Ukraine who I helped with his immigration documents. I also watched 2 movies: Definitely, Maybe and The Other Boleyn Sister. Both were very good. Now it's back to real life I guess. I'm spending the weekend recovering from jet lag, unpacking, and spending time with my parents. I
restart work on Monday.

It has been great hearing from so many of you so often. I plan on continuing these emails when I head off to Argentina on August 15. Between now and then I'll be doing some visiting and working and preparing. I'm going to Florida next weekend with the whole family to visit my
grandfather. Then the weekend after that I'm back in North Carolina for Alice's wedding which I'm in. Then I'm here until August. I hope to see many of you between now and then.

More from Toulouse

Hi!

I don't have long to write cause I'm out the door soon, but I wanted to give
you all an update. I have spent a week here in Toulouse with my old host
family. It has been very nice and very relaxing. It is kind of a blast
from the past to be here again. Most things are just like I remember them,
but the kids are a little bit older. I wrote more about my first day here
on my blog, so check there for more details. I also was able to meet up
with some French friends that we used to hang out with when I was here 2
years ago. There was a big music festival (basically a 5 day concert) that
I went to with them for 2 days. It was nice to hang out with people that I
already knew and to practice my French with people my age. While I've been
here I've walked around the city a lot, basically just to see things again.
I also went for a walk and a bike ride along the canal that is right in
front of the house. I've decided that that is one of my 'happy places' in
the world.

Now I am off to Ma and Grandpapa's. They are the parents of my host father
and they live in the countryside near the Pyrénées. I am very excited to
see them and to spend some time at their lovely place. I am taking
Quitterie (the oldest) and her friend with me because they finished school
for the year this morning. One of the cousins will also be there, so that
should be fun.

On Saturday I will spend all day and night on a train to get to Luca's house
at the beach in Italy.

Ma's and the beach = relaxation to the extreme

It's seems like its been longer than it actually has since I last wrote. I am now at Luca's home in Bologna, Italy. Let's rewind a bit so that I can tell you what i've been up to.

Wednesday afternoon I took the train with Quitterie and her friend Marie to
Ma's house. She took us up to her house (about 20 min away up in the hills). There were a bunch of cousins there because Ma takes care of one family of cousins on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It was great to see them all. This bunch I didn't know too well, but one of the other cousins, Jean Gualbert (Babert), who I got along with really well last time was also there. After dinner Quitterie, Marie, Babert and I all played outside for a bit because it we could and it was great weather. Thursday we took a trip to Lourdes (about an hour away). This is a big pilgrimage site for Catholics and Ma works there often. We were all enlisted to address envelopes to bishops from around the world who had visited in the last 3 years. We were inviting them to come in September when the pope will be there. The kids got lost on our walk to lunch which let us explore a bit. Then Babert and I did the touristy stuff and he was a great guide since he's been there many times. Friday we just hung out at the house. I helped collect potatoes and plums from the garden and make lunch. In the afternoon I went for a long walk and then visited the neighbor to see her cows (including a week old calf), chickens, and pig. The Montpellier cousins arrived Friday night for the weekend. This family (Babert's family) includes 5 kids ages 18, 16, 14, and 12 year old twins. I had a long talk with the oldest about life, society and politics which was fun.

Saturday was my train day. I ended up being on trains for 25 hours including a bit of a delay. I took a 6 hour train from Tarbes (ma's) to Paris, then my night train from Paris to Bologna was 3.5 hours late. I met a bunch of Americans and we passed the time with ease. My first night train
went smoothly and I slept well enough. I made a connection from Bologna to the beach town where Luca's grandma has a house and he picked me up from the
station. His grandma is very nice. She doesn't speak English, but speaks French, so we used that to communicate. We spent most of our time hanging out at the beach with other kids, playing pingpong and beach volleyball or reading at the house. It was very relaxing. We've just arrived in Bologna and he has a very nice apartment in the center of the city as far as I can tell. It seems like we'll be going out for real Italian pizza tonight!

Welcome Home

I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful second family to add to my life. And I am finally here with all of them again!

*An update for those of you who I didn't know in 2006.*
In Spring 2006, I studied abroad in Toulouse, France on the SIT (School of International Training) program. We all lived with host families and I really lucked out. I lived with the Lapeze family made up of 2 parents and 5 children. They are: Vianney (dad) and Domitille (mom) and Quitterie (now 12.5), Alexis (11), Ségolène (9), Tanguy (7), and Foucault (5). In case you're not sure, cause I wasn't before I got here that's girl, boy, girl, boy, boy. They are a wonderful, however sometimes crazy family, which you can only expect with so many people in one house. I became friends with an entire side of the family, including visits to the grandparents (Ma and Grandpapa) and the cousins near Montpellier. I will make similar trips to see these people soon as well. They took me to all family events including a reunion, a first communion, Easter, etc. Needless to say, I was excited to see them after 2 years.

I arrived in Toulouse on Tuesday evening after a lovely morning at the beach in Barcelona. Alexis and Quitterie picked me up at the train station with their father in their nice shiny new (American) minivan. The French don't often hug, so these huge hugs were wonderful! I saw Ségo and Domitille at the house, but the youngest two were already alseep. We ate Chinese food and watched France lose in the EuroCup. I surveyed the house for new things and they pointed out all the new electronics/appliances which were all of course American. Vianney is a huge fan of America if you couldn't tell already.

On Wednesday, I spent the morning walking around Toulouse and remembering all of my favorite places. I walked past our old school, the shopping street, the discount sports/camping store where I bought my backpack and a couple of markets. Most everything is just how I remembered it. It is wonderful to be back. The afternoon was consumed by Foucault's 5th birthday party. Birthday parties for 5 year olds are always more commotion and noise than you expect, and this one was no exception. There was cake, and presents, and Alexis put on a magic show for the little ones. I got to see the aunt that lives down the street who we spent a lot of time with when I was here. I also got to meet her husband for the first time because he had been with the French Air Force in Afghanistan the whole time I was here. He was stationed with the American army and is very proud of his English skills, so we spoke in English a bit. The evening was for relaxing and homework.

Today and tomorrow I am on my own for the whole day to play around the city. Friday, Foucault is getting his tonsils removed, so he will take his new toys to the hospital to occupy him. I'm going to try to organize the other kids tonight to make him cards.

I now have skype acess, so I hope to be able to talk to you soon.

Granada + Barcelona = fun

So here I am in Barcelona. The weather is very different than it was in the south of Spain. It has been chilly (about high 60s), cloudy, and sometimes misting rain. I think I see sun outside, so that is a great sign. Let me fill you in a bit.

Granada was really nice. It was a lot more calm than Sevilla and definitely more than Barcelona. There is definitely an Arab feel that remains. I learned that they just built a mosque there for the small but growing Muslim community. The street that my hostel was on was full of shops selling hookahs, tea pots and cups, scarves, tea, and belly dancing skirts. I talked to one of the store owners who was from Morocco and he said that most of the others were also from there. Our conversation was funny because I started speaking in Spanish and slipped up and said one word in French. He stopped me and asked if I spoke French, and I said yes, why indeed I do. So then we moved into French, cause I'm more fluent in that. Then we switched back to English so my friend Laura wouldn't be excluded. I really enjoyed that!

On Friday we went to the Alhambra, which is a huge Moorish fortress which includes palaces from the Nasrids and Charles V. The palaces were very nice and our audioguide was narrated by Washington Irving because he wrote a book about the place. We enjoyed our time with good ole Washington. The gardens were very extensive and were very pretty. They are called Generalife, which we obviously pronounced as General Life, but in fact its jen-er-al-li-fay. It was really funny.

Saturday morning I was up early and off to Barcelona. All parts of the travel went well. The hostel here is nice, but definitely has a different feel than the others. So far, I have seen Las Ramblas, an amazing market, some great street performers and dancers, Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's unfinished cathedral), and the Picasso museum. Last night, I went out with some people from the hostel to see this cool fountain that does a water-lights-music show every half hour at night. The first one was all disney music which was amazing! Then we got a drink and then realized that we had missed the last metro home. Have no fear, we figured it out. We walked to the center of town (a good 25 min walk) then took the night bus back...all the while trying to figure out which stop was ours.

Happy Father's Day to everyone and their dads. I'm off to Toulouse tomorrow!!!!!!!!

That was Sevilla and this is Granada

Wow, it's been a while since I've written. Sevilla was great. I loved the Alcazar (palace), cathedral, and basillica of the Macarena (yes, like the dance). I spent a lot of time with Elie and her study abroad group, so that was great. Being with UNC people makes it feel like home. I also got to spend an evening with her host family, practicing my Spanish and seeing what normal life is like. I walked sooo much, but it was great. My hostel had a tiny pool on the roof, so that was a great way to cool off at the end of the day.

Now, I'm in Granada. Yesterday I explored a bit and climbed to a great lookout spot over the city. I also saw the tombs of Queen Isabella and King Ferdanand. I'm beginning to realize how important they really were in Spanish history. They not only allowed for Christopher Colombus to sail to America, but they also finished the Reconquista of Spain, and started the Spanish Inquisition. They are known as the Catholic king and the Catholic queen. Today I am going to visit the huge fortress/castle/palace. I'm also goingt to find the local market.

Tomorrow I'm off to Barcelona!

I Went to a Bull Fight

So I went to a Bull Fight. It was definitely an experience and I probably won't ever need to do it again in my life, but I'm glad that I went. I really liked the beginning part with the pink/red flags and the dressed up matadors. They try to look all pompous and stick their hips out at the bull, but they're wearing tight, bright colored suits, and pink tights. The kid sitting next to me and I had a good time doing commentary on the whole show, which made it pass faster. I didn't like the whole killing the bulls thing, so I mostly used my visor as a shield so I didn't have to watch those parts.

I also went to the Alcazar (the huge palace in Sevilla). It was built in the 1200s by a Christian king, but made in the Moorish style. It was very interesting because there was lots of arabic writing in the decorations and traditional Arabic decorations. I loved it and thought it was beautiful. I learned a lot from the audioguide.

Those were my big accomplishments yesterday. Sevilla has tons of windy streets that really don't make any sense, so I'm still getting lost, but oh well. I'm meeting up again today with people I met at the bullfight, so it will be fun to have company during the day.

A taste of Flamenco and Tapas

Hello!

I made it to Spain! The bus ride took 7.5 hours including a 45 minute lunch stop. All in all though, it wasn´t that bad. I had a single seat with no one next to me and I had plenty of leg room (I´m not that tall so it´s not that difficult). I was able to do lots of relaxing things like sleep, read, write postcards, work on my needlepoint that Laura gave me to do, etc. They showed a movie for the middle leg which was a nice distraction when I cared to watch. There were 2 guys from my hostel on the bus, who I have since seen in Sevilla! What a small world! I also met a nice couple from Colombia while we were waiting in line.

I found the hostel here alright and I joined a group of about 25 people for a trip to a tapas bar and a free flamenco show. I talked with a British girl and a girl from Paris. I spent most of my time speaking French to the Parisian girl which was fun. I did however order my dinner in Spanish! Flamenco was good, very different from most other dances that I´ve seen.

Tomorrow, it´s back to tourism. Apparently there´s a bullfight show tomorrow evening and Sevilla is the place to see it so I might try to go. We´ll see! I´ll report back later!

Steph

A fun night in in Lisbon

So last night went really well. It's pretty much why I enjoy staying at hostels. On Monday/Wednesday/Friday, they have a local woman come and cook dinner for whoever wants it at the hotel and it's only 5 euros! Last night she made a meat/potato/vegetable pie which was good and extremely filling. We also had salad and what she called chocolate salami which was a very rich chocolate cake. About 20 people ate here and we all hung out in the living room until she called us that it was ready. Then we headed out to the fenced in patio and ate out there since it was a gorgeous night! They have a very cheap bar that they run on the patio at nights, so after dinner, we just sat and talked and some people drank. I sat and talked to an English speaking bunch (3 from Australia, 3 from the US, 1 from London, and 1 from Poland who's working in Ireland). This was a great way to meet the other people in the hostel and there no one really wanted to go out anywhere else (and spend more money), so that was great. This chain of hostels has establishments in Lisbon, Sevilla, and Granada, so I'm staying at all of them. I hope the atmosphere is the same at all of them!

We had a great time, but at 11:30 I decided to call it a night and headed to bed to try to combat my jet lag. I slept like a rock and this morning enjoyed a quiet room and a big bathroom all to myself since everyone was still asleep. Breakfast is included too, so that's really nice to have. A few people are up and about at 8:30, but it's still quite quiet. I'm off soon to the grocery store to get some food for my trip, then i'm off to Sevilla!

I'm Here!

Well, I made it! My flights went very smoothly and I was lucky enough to have 2 seats to myself on the leg from Newark to Portugal. I was able to sleep a decent amount (I slept through breakfast!) and I was pretty groggy when I got in. My bag was there waiting for me (yay!) and I found the bus into the city without a problem. First thing that I learned about Lisbon is that it is very hilly! Apparently it's known as the city of seven hills...who would have known. My hostel is very nice. I was able to leave my bag here this morning since I arrived too early to check in. They even let me have some breakfast and freshen up before I headed off again.

I was able to pretty much accomplish my goal of touring Lisbon in one day, which is good because that's all I have. I was well prepared to conquer this adventure with lots of pages copied out of guide books and a few good maps and advice from friends. First, I explored the shopping district which has one main pedestrian street which leads down to a big square by the water. I endulged for a bit and tried an ever so talked about pastry, which was very good. Next, I took a hike up to the cathedral (12th century) and then up even farther to a castle that was begun in the 11th century. There were great views of the river and the entire city from such a high hieght. Thank goodness there was a waterfountain at the bottom of this hill, because I guzzled the contents of my water bottle on the way up.



Next, I was off to a kind of suburb (15 min on the tram) called Belem which has a huge monestary. It was gorgeous and very intricate on the outside. Then I and some French people I found figured out how to cross the highway to make it to the monuments on the waterfront. This was my favorite part of the whole day. So Portugal, and especially Lisbon as far as I can tell is very obsessed/proud of their exploratory ancestors. There is a very cool monument celebrating the 400th year of some exploration (probably Vasco de Gama, but I'm not sure). It is an enormous statue of a wave with people on the side that look like they're on the front of a boat. From the back it looks like a sword in a cross. I don't think I'm describing how huge it is well enough. Well, I'll show you pictures later I guess. There was also an old tower that is just on the water that I climbed and had some good views as well. Lastly after some lunch, I went out to the other side of town and saw a basillica from 1789 and a beautiful gardin from about the same time. That was a nice way to slow down my day. Now I'm back at the hostel, where they serve home made Portguese dinner for 5 euros every night, which I'll be participating in.

Hopefully I'll get a great night's sleep tonight and then it's off to Sevilla tomorrow!

Miss you all!
Steph

Before I Go

Hello family and friends!

I will be posting updates here from all of my upcoming travels. I leave on June 5 to go to Europe for a month. I will be traveling to Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. Here is my itinerary:

June 5 - Fly to Europe
June 6 - Lisbon, Portugal
June 7-10 - Seville, Spain
June 11 - Cordoba, Spain
June 12-13 - Granada, Spain
June 14-17 - Barcelona, Spain
June 17-22 - Toulouse, France visiting my host family from study abroad
June 23-25 - Tarbes, France visiting my host grandma
June 26-27 - Near Montpellier, France visiting my host cousins
June 28-July 2 - Bologna, Italy visiting my friend Luca
July 3 - Fly home

I will have periodic access to email, so I hope that you will send me little hello's as well. I can be reached at seberman@gmail.com. If you send me your address, I'll do my best to send you a postcard from Europe!