Hello Everyone!

Hi everyone!

                It’s Klaudia here, your English language assistant for this year. By this time I’m sure I have met all of you but in case I didn’t let me introduce myself. I am 23 years old and although I live in Scotland, I was born in Gdansk, Poland where I lived for seven years before moving abroad with my family. I was young when I moved, for this reason it was very easy for me to learn English and by doing so at a young age I quickly became interested in learning languages: now I can speak four languages and I am currently learning my fifth! Thanks to learning languages at university I was able to study abroad in two different places: Mulhouse, France; and Alicante, Spain. I love to travel and knowing so many languages makes it easier to communicate with people from different countries.

In my free time I also love to read and play different board games with my friends as well as go to escape rooms – we have already done four and we are getting really good! In addition, I love to spend my time creatively, doing different arts and crafts – for example, I have recently started crocheting; here is a picture of a hanging plant pot I have made for my sister!

 

As for sports, I regularly go skating (that's me third from the left at the University of Aberdeen Ice Skating Competition 2022), cycling, hiking, running and swimming; I do them more often back home than here in Lucena because, for example, I don’t have my skates or bike with me but at least I try to go running a couple times a week. I also love basketball, tennis, and ballet dancing.

 I am really looking forward to properly meeting you all over the next couple of months and sharing our experiences and stories!

                Until next time,

                               Klaudia J

 

 

 

 

So long, farewell!

Hi everyone!             

            I can't believe that it's already my last week at Clara Campoamor! As they say, "time flies when you're having fun" - and the time definitely flew! We had a great year together in the bilingual program. Through all our classes, we learned so much and improved our English and cultural knowledge. 

            My favorite memories are going on field trips to Granada and Seville, seeing the dance performances in PE, hosting a Christmas concert with the teachers, and playing games like Bingo and Baamboozle in the classes. We also have shared a lot about Spanish and American culture. I have learned so much from you all too!

                      To the students, it's been so fun to get to know you and watch you grow. You have made me laugh and smile every single day. You are all amazing students with bright futures!

                      To the bilingual teachers, thank you for being so organized, flexible, and positive this year. It has been wonderful to get to know you and build a relationship with everyone! 

                    Thank you especially to Marta! You have been a great bilingual coordinator. You made this whole program run smoothly and have always been there to help when needed! I feel that I have been so lucky with my placement because of you.

                    It has been an absolute pleasure to be here and I feel very blessed to have had this unforgettable experience. Thank you all so much - you're the reason this year has been so positive for me! I wish you all the best!

❤️♡💙Much love ❤️💛❤️ 

Sierra Cady

P.S. Let's stay in touch! My email is sierrancady98@gmail.com

My first Holy Week in Spain

I hope you had a great Holy Week and spring break! It seems like many people enjoyed many traditions and festivities for the first time in two years.

For me, it was my first time in Spain during this special week. My sister visited me and we got to experience a lot of new places and events together!

My sister and I in Zuheros

We watched many processions in the streets of Lucena. It was lovely to see the lively streets filled with people enjoying time with family and friends and reflecting the holiday! This is what I noticed during Holy Week in Lucena:

Midnight Procession

• The weather was finally perfect just in time for the processions!
• The midnight, silent procession was very peaceful and beautiful. 
• All of the spectators wore their best, most fashionable outfits.  
• Families stayed out very late in the night to watch the processions, even those with babies!
• The traditional outfits of the participants of the processions was very shocking to us. The conical hats and face coverings appear to be like the dress of a racist, hate group in the USA; however, we know that in Spain it has absolutely nothing to do with this group. We had to remember that here, the dress is religious and symbolic. 

Overall, it was unlike anything I had experienced before. Spain has more religious Easter activities than United States. In the USA, many people today focus on the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, and chocolate candies. It was nice to see so many cultural traditions during this week. 

My sister and I were inspired by the traditions and how everyone gathered together. It was amazing!

What did you do during Holy Week?

-Sierra

A Weekend in Paris!

                        One of my New Year's goals this year was to travel more around Europe. Last weekend I flew with a friend to my top destination: Paris, France! With Paris being such an iconic city, we had very high expectations. The city exceeded them all- it was one of the best trips I have ever been on!

    Most of the weekend was cloudy, cold, and rainy, but that didn't stop us from sightseeing. We stayed near the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, which is a church with a panoramic view of the entire city. 

Sacré-Cœur Basilica

    Next, we went to the Eiffel Tower, walked to Notre-Dame Cathedral, and enjoyed a French lunch. Later on, we returned to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night.

    The following day, we went to the famous Louvre Museum. We spent hours walking around it, and even took a selfie with Mona Lisa! The museum was huge and very impressive!

Selfie with Mona Lisa!

    My favorite part was seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. Its reflection on the river was so beautiful, especially when it was sparkling. I also loved seeing all the fashionable people in Paris and trying French pastries!

Eiffel Tower at night

    I loved Paris and would like to go back one day. Have you ever been to Paris? What did you think of it?

Sincerely,

Sierra 

Valentine's Day

        💜💗💘

    This week, we celebrated Valentine's Day on Monday, February 14th, and there was definitely love in the air at Clara Campoamor! Roses and candies were passed out during recess, heart-shaped valentines were exchanged, and love songs were sung. Valentine's day is the perfect day to celebrate not only your romantic relationship, but also your family and friends.

     In our 3rd ESO English classes, we discussed various love myths, such as whether or not love at first sight exists. To my surprise, many students believed in love at first sight. However, few people agreed that finding your partner means you will constantly be happy in your life. I think it is valuable to reflect on what myths we subconsciously believe about love in our minds. Do you think that people in love never fight? Do you believe that you will just see the person and immediately know that he/she is perfect for you? Do you believe that being in a relationship will complete you? 

     Often times, TV shows, movies, and the media can affect how we think of a “normal” relationship. This week, the 3rd ESO students considered what love is and wrote their thoughts on paper hearts. Some hearts were broken and others were full. Their task was to write "Love is ..." on the full hearts and "Love isn't ..." on the broken hearts. Here are some examples of what I thought of during this activity: 

 💔 5 Things that Love Isn’t:

•  Love isn’t keeping a record of everything someone does wrong. 
•  Love isn’t selfish. 
•  Love isn’t being jealous of the other person. 
•  Love isn’t controlling someone else. 
•  Love isn’t being angry with your partner all the time. 

 💜  5 Things that Love Is: 

•  Love is being patient. 
•  Love is being kind and gentle. 
•  Love is listening well. 
•  Love is telling the truth to your partner. 
•  Love is persevering when you go through difficult circumstances.

What would you add to these lists?

I hope you had a lovely week!

-Sierra

Traveling and Travel Goals!

    One of my main goals during my time as a Language Assistant is to travel around Spain and the rest of Europe. Traveling is a great way to learn about other people and their culture, and it shows you what makes your country unique. 

    Since being in Spain, I have taken trips all around Andalucía. I love Andalucía because of the architecture and the weather. My favorite part about the culture is that people spend a lot of time outside and love to socialize with others. This is very different than Chicago. There, it is cold and we stay indoors a lot. 

      A great time to travel is when there is a break from school. During Christmas break, my boyfriend came to visit me here and we went to Málaga, Córdoba, and Seville. I also showed him around Lucena. Our favorite city is Seville because of the beautiful river! 

    During the New Year, it is fun to set new goals for yourself. My goal for 2022 is to travel to Paris, France and London, England. 

Do you have any travel goals? I would love to hear about them!

I hope you get to go somewhere new this year! 
-Sierra

Lucena

Córdoba Mezquita

The Giralda in Seville

Happy Holidays!

Congratulations on finishing off this semester! Please enjoy this video from our bilingual teachers talking about their favorite thing about Christmas. 

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Celebrating Thanksgiving in Spain!

     This week in all our classes together, we discussed Thanksgiving: an American holiday celebrated at the end of November. This year, Thanksgiving was on Thursday, November 25th. On Thanksgiving, friends and family come together at one person's house to have dinner and give thanks for the good things they have in life. Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with family, friends, and food!  This was my first year being away from my family on Thanksgiving. As there are many American language assistants in Lucena, we decided to have a Thanksgiving together on Thursday since we all miss our family and friends from home. 

        My roommate and I hosted our friends and everyone brought food for our dinner. We made the turkey, gravy, and macaroni & cheese. Our friends brought other classic Thanksgiving dishes, like green bean casserole, bread rolls, mashed potatoes, and corn. They also brought desserts! We had apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cinnamon rolls. It was amazing that we were able to have a Thanksgiving dinner here in Spain, because many of the ingredients that we have in the US were not available. We all helped and it came together successfully!

      We ate around the dinner table and enjoyed the food we made. Some of our friends are from other countries, so they got to enjoy their first Thanksgiving with us. We all talked, laughed, said what we were thankful for, and played games. Everyone had a great time!

          This year I am especially grateful for getting to live and work in Lucena. I am so thankful for each of the teachers and students at Clara Campoamor! It is a pleasure to be here and I do not take it for granted at all! 

            I hope you take some time to reflect on the message of Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

     Best, 

Sierra Cady

Hi everyone!

 

        Hi everyone! My name is Sierra Cady and I am the language assistant at Clara Campoamor for this school year. 

        To introduce myself, I am 22 years old and I grew up in a smaller town in the south suburbs of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. I then moved to Columbus, Ohio when I was 18 to attend The Ohio State University, which is the third largest university in the United States and has about 60,000 students. There, I studied chemistry and Spanish. Outside of school, I love music! I played the saxophone in band and sang in choir throughout middle school, high school, and college. Also during college, I studied for a semester in Seville, Spain and got to learn about Spanish culture. It was a great experience and I am happy to be back in Andalucía again!

         I know that language learning is hard, but I am excited to get to help you all feel more comfortable with English this year and share some of my American culture along the way. I am sure that we will have a great year at Clara Campoamor in bilingual classes! 

Thanks guys, bye!

WELCOME, SIERRA!! 😍

Welcome everyone back!!
I'm glad to be back with all of you, my students, my workmates, and especially our new language assistant: Sierra Cady. Have you met her? She is so charming and looks like she will be a great English teacher for you all!

Here you can see some pictures of her first lessons with our students, in which she introduced herself and told us lots of interesting details about her life. 

Come and meet her!!

Lucena: A Video Report

My impression of Lucena is a quiet little town, but apparently, it is the second most populated city in Cordoba. It has rich a history that makes it more interesting.

I like how it is not crowded—which is important during these times that we have to maintain social distancing. It helps that there are a lot of open spaces to move around in.

The city has got loads of nice typical Spanish residential homes and just like any other place. There is an inner-city slum. I don’t see much litter so the cleanliness is pretty well maintained. I noticed the people in Lucena love their pets so there aren’t any stray animals around.

 I really love the Lucena. However, I think public transportation can still be improved. People usually just walk on foot which can be inconvenient or drive a car to go from one place to another.

A Biography of an Important Person in my Life

 

Vice Ganda. He is a popular comedian and a TV host in the Philippines. Although he doesn't know me personally, and I only admire him from afar, I consider him one of the most important persons in my life. A few years ago, I was in a rough place. I was unhappy, unmotivated, insecure. Vice Ganda helped me get through that time with his comedy. His positivity inspired me to get better and keep going.

Jose Marie Borja Viceral, better known as Vice Ganda, was born on the 31st of March 1976 in Manila, Philippines. The youngest of five children, Vice grew up with his grandparents because his father died when he was young and her mother was left with no choice but to work abroad to support her children. He studied political science at Far Eastern University.

He began his professional career as a singer. However, he was selected to perform standup in well-known comedy clubs/bars in Manila because of his skills. Next, he hosted and made guest appearances in TV series and variety shows. He started gaining audience from the mainstream media through these guest appearances. Finally, Vice’s moment of glory in his television career came in 2009 when he was picked up as a judge for ‘Showtime,' a highly popular midday TV program. Now, he has starred in several films, eight of which are considered to be the highest-grossing in Philippine cinema.

My Favorite TV Series

Let's talk about our favorite TV series! Mine is Emily in Paris at the moment. "At the moment" because it changes every week or every month!

Emily in Paris is one of my latest and biggest Netflix obsessions. It follows a young American woman, who gets the chance at her dream job in Paris. That dream job is working for a French marketing firm, with the task of bringing an American perspective to the company.

It is an American comedy drama web television series that stars Lily Collins as the main character, or Emily, an American woman moving to Paris for a job opportunity. There she struggles to succeed in the workplace while searching for love and experiencing cultural clash with her boring midwestern upbringing. She faces her new reality in the "City of Love" head-on as she learns to juggle work, friendship, and romance.

Let me tell you about the other characters:

• Gabriel, Emily's love interest and downstairs neighbor who works as a chef;
• Sylvie, Emily's tough French boss at the marketing firm who takes an immediate disliking to Emily; and
• Mindy Chen, Emily's new best friend and guide to life in Paris.

I like it because the show is full of quirky humor, quirkier characters, and lust-worthy fashion. In fact, Lily Collins' evening look was actually inspired by Audrey Hepburn.

This show is very close to my heart because I see myself in Emily when she moved to Paris. I went through the same struggles as her when I first got here in Spain, and it's funny how it felt like I was watching myself through her character.

I highly recommend it if you like watching romantic comedy shows or films. It makes you want to go to Paris, but since we can't travel to be in Paris right now, why don't we bring Paris to us?

Watch it here ▶️