This week I receive my certification to Teach English as a Foreign Language. I can't believe it's already been a month! Some of me feels like it's been six months since I've been here and another part feels like I've been here since last week. I'm going to miss all of the students that I have. My classes have students with people that are 14 to 65 years old! I love them all and they think I'm crazy. I throw things at them and yell in German...nah, just kidding. But with the absolute beginners I was trying to teach them this/that/these/those with vocabulary. They don't know any English mind you, so I hold a pen and say, this pen...they always repeat everything I say and write everything I say down profusely. They are such good students. So I throw the pen across the room and they are totally bewildered...they all turn from the pen on the floor and look at me. I then say, that pen. Then they all repeat, that pen...I was dying laughing inside!

This week my goal is to narrow down an apartment. I haven't had time to look with teaching and preparing lessons throughout the weeks. I may have a roommate who teaches with me this month, but we're not sure yet because this month is been so hectic. She wants to live in Palermo because it's safer...Palermo is alright, but it's pretty pretentious and boochy if you ask me. Palermo is also more expensive and I feel like it would be too hard to get a two bedroom for the price I want to pay. We're going to talk tomorrow some more and I may go on my own to live in San Telmo. San Telmo would be like Capitol Hill in Denver or Ghent in Norfolk or Brooklyn in New York; just better.

I'm getting pretty accustomed to the city after a month and I'm starting to make some friends that I see regularly. Last week, my friend, Alejandro, invited me to see this band that plays chamas music. It's music from northeast Argentina and is lead with an accordion. People were dancing with this certain style I've never seen before. People are poised in this position that leaves their upper bodies really stiff while their legs are moving all over the place. It was really cool to watch and hear. The accordion (I know it's called something else that I can't remember) doesn't have any keys but a ton of buttons on both sides; how do you begin to figure that out!

I got to play keyboard with this reggae band the other night. I was a having a beer with two friends and the band took a break. I started talking to some of them and then they called me up for the next set and told me to play the keyboard. I obeyed:)

I'm going to try to get a job at a high school for March when the school year begins. I heard that I may have a good chance with the experience and background that I have. If not, there's plenty of work to be had teaching English at businesses and language schools. I also figured out that I don't need a work visa here. There's a way around the system which I'm finding is pretty regular here in Buenos Aires. As long as you pay the government 30 dollars a month, you can stay as long as you'd like.

I going to try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Ciao ciao!

On my way to school, I pass by Plaza de Mayo and that's the big statue on the far left. The water is a little port in the neighborhood of Recoleta. This building is in Plaza de Mayo and I believe someone important lives there. I want to say that it's the governor's house or president's house, but since I don't know, it can be Cookie Monster's house. Check out the police car. Ready to go to shoot down protestors when needed.




Cute little kids playing the accordions and singing.











On the left is a kid playing on the porch in the neighborhood of San Telmo. Above is the street I live in called, Lavalle and pronounced la-bah-shay. I have more pictures of San Telmo and La Boca which are really cool places. Sooner than later. Ciao.

School Days

Bienvenidos! It´s Friday afternoon and I´ve just completed my first week with BridgeLinguatec. This is a school that certifies teachers in teaching English as a foreign language through an intensive four week course. I´m really delving into the fundamentals of the English language even more so than I did in college and as a teacher - if you can believe that! Pretty soon you´ll be finding emails sent back to you with my corrections and my linguistical jargon threaded throughout it. That was a joke, so don´t be afraid to write me because I won´t do that. There are seven students in this class and class starts at 10 every morning. In the morning, Spanish speakers come to learn from us seven students. We take turns and teach a beginner class and an advanced class. My first rotation is with a beginner class and they don´t know any English whatsoever. I´m so impressed with them because they stay for two hours as one of us takes the first hour and another takes the second hour. Their minds have got to be fried by the end of the session, but they still come back the next day. Today was my first lesson and I taught them how to express themselves by teaching them vocabulary, pronunciation, and then sentence structure. We had a lot of fun today because I had to use a lot of charades to define some of the words that they´ve never heard before. It felt really good to hear them use a language that they´re hungry for. So unlike the States in where I was pulling teeth to get kids to come to school.

Unfortunately for this month, I´m so engulfed into studying the English language deeper that I am unable to study my Spanish; however, I still practice before I go to school and at night.

I´ve finally established a good schedule here now. I wake up at 7:30 or 8; eat breakfast at the cafe downstairs in which they´ve already remembered what I want every morning (a small cup of orange juice, café con léche, and two medialunas - about the best croissants ever). I ride a bike I bought last week to school and make it there around 9 or a little after. The students come at 10 and if you´re teaching, then you teach; otherwise you observe the other teachers to give feedback later. Lunch is at 1 and the teachers find something around the neighborhood of San Telmo - anything from parrilla (grilled food) to pizza to empanadas (a little bit like calzones but way better and smaller). We come back to school and instructors at the school give us linguistic lessons until 5. I usually stay for an hour and study or prepare for lessons. I get home and take a nap until about 7 or 8; I wake up and do a little more work and then go grab dinner around 9 to 10´ish (that´s when restaurants open for dinner). After that, I explore the city with other teachers and usually end up just walking around until we turn in around 2 am. It´s a lot different but I don´t feel so rushed to be places or do anything while I´m not at school. I´m not tired because I split up my sleep schedule as all other porteños do here as well. Pretty crazy, huh?

I almost dreamt in Spanish last night; it was pretty strange.

I have an address that I´ll be at until February 1st:

Scott Lyman
c/o Mali Charlaff
BridgeTEFL Argentina
Defensa 715
Capital Federal
C1065AAM
Argentina

I still don´t have a phone yet, but I´m going to leave here and look for just a local one to use. Phones here are strange. It costs money on top of your plan to receive or make calls; isn´t that what a cell phone plan is for? Basically, everyone just text messages to avoid those extra charges, so I´ll just be using it locally. I imagine in February once I find an apartment, I´ll get a landline set up.

One last thing...the internet in Argentina is extremely sluggish so uploading pictures is next to impossible. It takes like 10 minutes for one and then the internet shuts off; otherwise, there´d be some pictures in here. So until then, I hope all is well and I´ll talk with you later. Ciaó.

Scott