Second day at Lauro and a visit at Gorliz

Today we had to wake up early again because it would be my second day at Lauro. When we went there Maitane and I could not find Scott, so we kept looking for him for about 20 minutes but we found each other eventually. Then, Scott and I discussed what we would be doing for the classes that day and then Maitane and her classmates came to get me because they were doing a project for the Basque language, Euskara, since less people are speaking it nowadays so it is an endangered language. They were going to ask several students from different ages and education levels to answer several questions and at the end they also asked me. It were questions about the meaning of love, happiness and what you would do when you lose something that is very close to you. For their project they are going to relate these answers to the fact that they are losing their language.

After that I went back to Scott and we had a break so we just talked for a bit and after that we had class with students from year 3, which are about 14 years old. We talked about extreme sports; which one could they come up with, would they like to try one of them, what makes them dangerous, what are fears that could be linked to that sport, etc. Something that is quite remarkable is that when Scott is at the student"s table, they will start talking in English but as soon as he is gone they will speak in Spanish again, so it is sometimes hard for me to find out what their opinion is, but since Scott told them he is about to give them grades, they all started speaking English.

Then we had a class which is in year 4, which is the last year they will be in that building before they will become seniors. Since they were about 15/16 years old, they were more interested in the reason why I came there and also wanted to know more about if it was something they could do in the future as well. Sadly enough I was not able to answer all the questions because I had to go to have lunch with Maitane and her friends. Today"s lunch was....... not that good. It was chicken with potatoes in a sauce together with a drumstick which I did not really like. The dessert was a typical Basque desert which was caramel pudding with rice and cinnamon powder.

After lunch I went to the history class of Maitane and her classmates but her teacher was not going to teach them anything about history but it was a class that would be all about me. I started off by telling them something about the Dutch culture and our traditions and after that they asked me some questions and I also asked them some questions so it was really nice :). I also brought them some stroopwafels so they could taste it and while I was giving it to them one guy even said "dankjewel" which surprised me since I did not hear anything Dutch in the last few days except for the skype conversations with my parents. They all loved the stroopwafels and begged me for more but sadly enough I did not have any left. After that they teached me some typical Basque dances and after we finished them I put on some typical Dutch music, which of course had to be Frans Bauer with his biggest hit "Heb je even voor mij" they all danced on it but I am sure they mocked it haha. After that all the girls came up to Maitane and me to ask us if we wanted to do something with them over the weekend which was so nice so we made some plans.

After that I went back to class with Scott, and we had to give class to children which are in grade 1, so about 12 years old. We decided to change something about the way we were going to ask them about the extreme sports because in the other class it did not work too well. The children in this class were very excited and also really interested in what I was doing even though they were so much younger. A little boy even told me he had plans to go to the USA in 3 years time! The class went well and the students really enjoyed it so that was a wonderful thing.

The last "real" class we would have that day was year 3, but these students have a higher level on English. They were very excited and could not stop talking in English which is a good thing for oral class. We opened the lesson with a classroom discussion on whether school uniforms are a good thing or not, so we all came up with several pro"s and con"s but at the end we came to the conclusion that it might be better to just let the students wear whatever they want. After that they started praciticing for their Cambridge Exam, in which they have to discuss several options for the improvement of a city.

After this class we had to go to the primary school again which might be one of my favorite things at Lauro. Whenever Scott and I walk on the playground all the kids start running towards him and hugging him and giving high fives and it is so cute to see that these small children really appreciate their English classes while the students who we gave class the rest of the day are not excited at all. Today we had other students so we had to do the same thing as yesterday; the sound of sh. The children also learn some figures in English and the colors of them. I think the way in which they teach the children is wonderful because they already know so much and can ask me stuff too which is great when you think about the fact that they are only 5 years old. Since the classes for the small children take 1,5 hours and Maitane finished school at half past 3 I had to leave a bit earlier but it was alright.

After school we decided to go to Mungia, since it is a very beautiful town and Maitane had to go there to go to her extra English classes. We walked around for a little while and took some photos and then it was time for her to go to the English class so her mother drove to Gorliz which might be one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The drive to it was already so beautiful because we had to go through all the mountains and we could see all the villages from a higher view which was breathtaking. When we arrived at the beach it was very calm so we went for a walk and her mother showed me some stuff.

Afterwards we drove back to pick Maitane up and then we went home. At home we started doing some stuff for school and just relaxed. Tomorrow will be the last day of school for this week and then we will go out to celebrate carnival with some of Maitane"s friends from school which I met earlier today so I am very excited :D.