This week felt like 2 weeks in one – in a good way (I think!). The week started with the last few days of new faculty orientation (Brewster Summer Institute or BSI). We finished our final sessions focusing on wellness programming, identity formation, growth mindset, and other topics. By now, the group of ~30 new faculty and staff feels like a well-connected team after nearly two full weeks together. We “graduated” from BSI on Wednesday, earning our Brewster 0 pins. The school gives pins for years of service, and this represents the starting place. That evening, they invited us all out to a local bar to celebrate. Many of the faculty members brought their kids and partners. I had a fun time meeting everyone, and as many of the faculty kids are students in the lower grades, it was a funny environment to have students in for many of the teachers.
On Thursday, we began in-service training for the full faculty, splitting for the first time into the two school campuses. I’ll be teaching at the new campus on the outskirts of Madrid. The neighborhood is called La Moraleja and is among the wealthiest in the city. The buildings aren’t ready yet, so for the time being, our in-service training is in the same building as the rest of the faculty training. The original campus in the Chamberí neighborhood has a much larger faculty and student enrollment, but both campuses span the grades from Pre-K (3 years old) to late high school. A few teachers are transferring to the new campus (about 3 or 4) along with some older students. It’s exciting to be part of a new school, and they continue to refer to it as a “project” or “start-up.” That said, there is a strong collaborative effort between the campuses on the academic front to match curriculum and course offerings.
We hit the ground running with in-service training, starting with a broad overview of the academic policies and expectations in the middle and upper schools and continuing through detailed planning of the first few days of school. We start with students on the 15th of September, but we won’t be in classes until Thursday of that week. Instead, we’re planning several fun activities and excursions for the first three days. I’m looking forward to it and feel more excited than nervous about meeting the students and getting started. We have the next two weeks to drill down into the particulars of our curriculum. To end the week, on Friday night, we had a full faculty welcome back picnic at Temple Debod on the west side of the city. I enjoyed getting to meet and talk with more of the returning teachers.
Outside of school, I’ve had a busy week finishing up my paperwork to officially live in Spain. I had a few appointments at various government offices to officially establish residency and obtain my foreigner ID card and my health card (to be completed tomorrow, hopefully!). The school contracts a relocation company to help with these processes, so I’ve had a lawyer from that company come along with me to all the appointments and prepare the forms, which has been a huge help.
I did my first full week grocery shop and was pleasantly surprised that even with my few little extra items, I only spent about $40 on groceries for the week. I was quite shocked, having spent much more than that on just a few snacks in the US. The only downside of this particular grocery store is that they’re not open on Sundays, so I’ll be headed there after work tomorrow!
Yesterday (Saturday), I took a day trip from Madrid to a town called El Escorial (~ 30 miles from the city). I traveled with Paula, one of the other just-out-of-college teachers. We’re the only two new teachers on our campus, and among 3 brand new/just out of college teachers, so we’ve been hanging out a lot! We met at the bus station on the west side of the city, about a 20-minute walk for me. The ~ 50-minute ride is included in the youth metro card, so we didn’t have to pay anything else for the ride there or back (I love public transportation). Arriving in the small town, we wandered in the streets and got a small snack before hitting the main attraction, the monastery/basilica/palace. It’s a massive structure that sits slightly apart from the small town, and we could see the skyscrapers of Madrid in the distance. The town is surrounded on three sides by mountains and is itself quite hilly.
The visit began in the monastery portion, where we toured the library, which had large globes and books in both Spanish and Arabic on display. On our way past the basilica, we found ourselves in the middle of a wedding! The bride walked across this very large courtyard and into the ceremony while we watched. It was awesome. The rest of the tour included beautiful frescos, a painting gallery, the burial site of many royal family members and former Kings and Queens of Spain, and the private residence area of the palace. See some of the photos below!
After the visit, we sat for lunch at a small outdoor restaurant patio and I had gazpacho and lamb, both of which were quite good! After that, we walked up and down the hills of the town before returning to the bus depot for our ride back to Madrid. Overall, it was a great day, and I had a good nap on the bus before getting back into the city.
Today (Sunday), I had a late wake-up and met Paula again at El Rastro, the street market where Manny and I went a few weekends ago. We walked up and down the stalls, which were mostly the same as my last visit, but fun to see again. After that, we headed to Sol, the busy (read touristy) plaza to get a few things at the large Corte Ingles (mall!). I bought a new pair of sneakers! After that, we had great focaccia sandwiches before heading our separate ways. I’ve had a relaxing afternoon getting some work done, cleaning, and preparing for the week!
By Thursday or Friday of this week, we should be on campus at La Moraleja. I can’t wait to see it! I’ll be taking a school-organized daily shuttle there with many of the other faculty members from the original campus. It’ll be a bit of a commute, but we’re hoping that because we’re leaving the city rather than entering it, traffic won’t be terrible. Enjoy the photos, and I’ll give an update again in a few days!
Abe Tolkoff 