And… I just finished my last full day of classes! I can’t believe that this summer has gone so quickly. The last few weeks have been crazy busy for me and also pretty amazing. Tomorrow I have three more classes and then I am completely done teaching! On Saturday, I fly back to the United States for a couple more days of summer with my family and then it’s back to Oberlin College for me. It’s been hard work, but so rewarding to watch my students become better English speakers this summer! As my students have learned more English, I also have learned lots about how to plan lessons, manage a classroom, and answer questions. I also have definitely learned lots of new Spanish words, which is exciting. A huge thank you to my host family and all of my students this summer! It has been a pleasure getting to know you all!
During the break from classes at the end of July and the beginning of August, I left Villanueva to take a trip with my mom to Amsterdam. The beginning of the trip was a bit stressful. When I arrived at Atocha station, there was a taxi strike and it was a hard to find a way to the airport! Thankfully I found a 24 hour airport bus and I made my flight in time. My mom and I tried to do as much sight-seeing as possible in six days. We saw so many beautiful places, but my favorite part of the trip was going to a cat sanctuary on a boat in one of the canals, called De Poezenboot. At least 15 cats live on the boat, and people can come visit them every day and adopt them! I also enjoyed Amsterdam’s cheese and some world famous Dutch pancakes. After traveling with my mom, I also had the opportunity to stay with my good friend Emily and her family who live near Hannover, Germany. Emily was an exchange student at my high school, and I was thrilled to have the chance to see her again! Emily and I were pretty lazy, and we spent a lot of time sleeping and watching Dan & Phil videos on YouTube. I also ate a lot of delicious German bread and some fantastic cherry crepes.
When I returned to Villanueva, I was the only summer intern left in town! It was a change of pace to teach and plan classes by myself, but it was also lots of fun planning lessons. I’m thinking about becoming a teacher after college, and it was good practice to teach six classes a day. It’s been interesting teaching such a wide age range of students, from little kids to college students. I also took a short one day trip to Seville to see some of the more famous sights, such as the Plaza de España and the cathedral. Seville is an absolutely gorgeous city.
Although I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and family in the United States, I am so glad I came to Villanueva this summer! Hopefully someday I’ll be able to come visit!
Good luck on your exams!