Just call me Ashcil.

 In the States, Ashley is such a popular name that I once had a class with 6 Ashleys in it. It's so common that one time I was talking to a woman about my sister Brittney and she said, "Let me guess, your name is Ashley?". Here in Spain, however, there are no native Ashleys. After school yesterday, my co-worker and I went for a drink and some lunch to celebrate our first paychecks (woooohoooo). The man taking our order spelled my name: Ashcil. When we ordered again, I was Ashhei. It made me giggle. 

This week went by so fast! I had a really fun time sharing Halloween with the kids in my classes. I made a presentation about how we celebrate in the United States and they were very impressed with the pictures of me in my Cruella Deville getup from two years ago. Here are some pictures of the kinds of activities we worked on, too much fun! Aren't little kid drawings the best?

In this picture some of my 2nd graders are dancing along with a skeleton song about bones, "The hip bones connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bones connected to the ankle bone"...sound familiar? They absolutely love to sing and dance. And yes, I totally join them.

One of the highlights of my week happened yesterday in the teachers lounge. After the morning's classes, many of the teachers meet in the lounge for coffee and breakfast. Yesterday, there were a few new faces in the room...boy faces, connected to bodies that were connected to legs that were wearing tights. Turns out, a singing troupe known as Tuna had come to the school to perform for the kids. In the medieval days, Tunas would perform songs to earn food, or to woo the ladies. Today, however, Tunas are musical groups comprised of University students and they perform traditional Spanish music. I asked one of the teachers I work with to convince them to sing for us, and she did! The other teachers started to sing along, and clap, and holler! It was apparent that I was witnessing traditional Spanish culture, I felt moved by everyone's passion for the music and tradition.

My co-worker, Rakesh, and I just couldn't resist the photo opportunity...

This weekend should be really nice, especially since we don't have classes on Monday or Tuesday. To make things even lovelier, a five day weekend means next week is only a two day week. Man, these Spaniards are spoiling me. Tonight, after trying my first Spanish vegan restaurant (eh, why not?), my roommates and I are going to a popular club called Kapital. Tomorrow evening, I get to tag along on a tapas tour with my friend! Super excited about that. And Sunday, I am planning to do another day trip, not sure where to yet, we'll see where the weekend takes me!