Saturday, November 15, 2014

La Rana

This month of November has been pretty relaxed and full of enjoyable fall weather.  Last weekend I went on a day trip to a city called Salamanca with Laura, my German roommate.  Salamanca is about 2 hours away and is home to one of the best universities in Spain, and is a popular day trip for Madrileños   




A popular tourist attraction it to find "Hidden Pictures" on the sides of various building walls.  The most popular one is to find "La Rana," or the Frog for good luck!  Can you see it?  (This is a very zoomed in picture...)



School has been going well, and I've enjoyed working with my new Teachers and students.  We went to go see a play last Friday, which was put on by Spanish and English speaking people.  It's goal is to help the Spanish kids practice their English and have a cute cultural experience.  This year the play was about a reality show with 3 English people and 1 American trying to win a contest.  The American they portrayed was the most obnoxious version of a California girl I have ever seen, and it was embarrassing to watch.  At home I have made fun of these caricatures and know how many different types of Americans their are...and I know the students see me everyday and have a good example.  Still it was hard to watch and know that this is what most of the world think of (other than cowboys) when they hear about Americans...

On top of that, when the winner of the contest was revealed as the old British lady, my students were disappointed.  One girl said word for word, "The girl should have won because she's pretty."   I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was, but I hated hearing her say that.  And she was just being honest!  A little heartbreaking that how much physical appearance has become a measure of value...

I love teaching because I get to help students learn and grow in the way school was for me. So now added to my mission of enriching education, I'm going to stomp out these stereotypes and destructive, unhealthy view on looks! For at least a few students anyway...