Week 4: September 5th- 11th

Week in Review:

School kept me pretty busy this week. All week long I was in training with Joyce, the co-writer of the Shelton Method, a reading and writing program for students with processing problems. From 8:30- 12:30, we met to learn about various processing problems, mainly dyslexia. Fascinating. And I'm not being sarcastic.  Her method, teaches students who struggle with reading and writing due to processing problems, by systematically breaking down the English language, and rebuilding/remediating the skills through high tech technologies: paper, pencil, and a sandpaper board. She re-wrote the program for early childhood intervention, and moved from a sandpaper board, to a tactile board(slightly less abrasive on kindergarten fingers). Over the course of a 10 year study, her research showed about 25-30% of all students in schools across the U.S. and in Brazil, have some form of processing problems ranging from moderate to severe. Makes you wonder about that "behavior problem" in the classroom.

Friday night, I met up with a few of the other new hires, to watch our school librarian play an acoustic show (anybody seen Bad Teacher yet, actually quite a bit better than Period 5) at a small bar near the Sagrada Familia. After the show we sat around the table sharing stories, and straining to understand the thickening (there seems to be a connection between drinks and strength of accents) accents. We spent a good hour telling/listening to jokes; most only had relevance if you were from the country of origin. And then there was a whole line of jokes like this one...

"A polar bear family is wandering through the frozen tundra, and the littlest polar bear goes up to his mum (british accent), and says, "Mum, what am I?  His mum replies, your a polar bear, don't be dumb! The bitty polar bear wanders up to his pa, and asks, "What am I?" your a bloody polar bear, don't you know! Little polar bear runs up ahead to ask his brother the same question...same answer, a polar bear. Finally returns to mom, and asks, "Mum! what am I!? Mum, says, why in bloody hell do you keep asking? The little polar bear responds, "Because I'm F 'ing Cold!"

A penguin walks into a bar...

On Saturday I woke up early to catch the train to Tarragona, left for the train around 8:30, hoping to catch the 9:06 to Tarragona, a quick 33 minute ride. After misreading the digital display, and missing the correct train, I hopped on the next, hoping it was headed in the same direction. I lucked out and it was infact heading towards Tarragona, but had a dozen stops along the way, along with needing to switch trains twice. I pulled into Tarragona around noon, and found the closest tapas restaurant and enjoyed the best Patatas Bravas yet. I rode around the city for a few hours, stopped and only took a few pictures. By 3 I was tired and ready to head back. The train back was much more direct, and I was even able to close my eyes for twenty minutes.

Sunday..watched the entire first season of Breaking Bad...

Alright, so it's Monday night, and me an my future flatmate just high fived and shared some sangria, to toast to our new place. Well, we still have to go take a second walk through tomorrow, and hand over the deposit, but it seems like a done deal. By next weekend (fingers crossed...again), I should be moving into my new, permanent place, a two bedroom in the Gracia neighborhood!

A few photos from Tarragona @ observations.zaplife.com