A Busy Week

Sorry to those of you who have been waiting for an update; all I can say is that I’ve been pretty busy this week!
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It’s interesting to look back at the time I’ve been here so far, because I feel like the first month that I spent living at El Conseller is so far away and so completely different (even though it’s only been two and a half weeks). Mainly it’s because this week I started a lot of new activities that have allowed me to feel more integrated into the daily life of Andorra. Although this week has had many firsts, I have felt the most at home here since I arrived (though that doesn’t mean that I am completely at home yet). Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to (I know it may seem like a lot, but it’s better than having a whole week with nothing to write about, right?):
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Church
Yes, I finally made it to church! It’s funny (or maybe pathetic) that my church-going rate is probably already better here than it was in Azusa or had been at home for awhile… but that’s a different story. Anyway, I’ve really been missing the type of community that I’d had at APU and have with friends at home, consisting of a different level of connection, depth, and transparency within relationships; really just a different sort of culture than I’d found here. Where for a long time I only went to church because I felt like I should go, I found myself actually wanting to go to church (even enough to pay for a cab when the bus didn’t come!).
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So after doing a little research online, I found the only English-speaking church in Andorra (conveniently called The English-Speaking Church of Andorra). They meet in Erts, up in a higher valley of Andorra between La Massana and Arinsal, a much prettier area of Andorra than Santa Coloma! The church building, like the congregation, is small and old, but very charming. After the service they had a lunch at a nearby hotel and I caught a ride with a couple from Canada. I thought it was funny that they were the first ones to come up and talk to me when they admitted they hadn’t been to church for years either! Hélèn is French Canadian and her husband, Aubrey, is from Nova Scotia. There were also many people from England, some from Denmark, China… lots of places. Most were older, but I did meet a Fulbright grantee from two years ago who has stayed in Andorra. Later I introduced him to the other Fulbrighters and he introduced me to his roommate. New friends my age! The church only meets twice a month, but I think it will be nice to get out of Andorra la Vella and fellowship with some good people.
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Choir
On Saturday while I was doing some research about the church (mainly trying to find a picture so I would know where to go), I stumbled upon an article about things to do in Andorra, and it mentioned an international club. When I googled it, I found information about an international choir that sounded interesting. I e-mailed the contact person, and then at church I actually met her. Small world! She gave me directions to church and on Tuesday and Wednesday I went.
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Again, I am one of the youngest members (aside from one girl younger than me, most are over 40 at least!), but that comes with living in Andorra. The choir isn’t anything compared to the choirs at APU (and I was only in Bel Canto, the entry level choir), which is sometimes frustrating. At the same time, I love being there and talking with normal people and trying to sing. The choir has people from all over, so the director speaks in English and Catalan and I’ve even heard some French. Yesterday we were working on a German song, and out of the blue a woman I had thought was Catalan started speaking fluent German! It’s an interesting mix of people! I think the fact that the choir is so hodgepodge gives it character, though I don’t think we’re on our way to win any awards like in Sister Act, even if Whoopi Goldberg showed up in her nun’s habit.
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On Tuesday I got a lift back from choir with an older guy who lives in my area, and he was telling me about how he is French/Andorran (French by birth, Andorran by marriage), but he also speaks Catalan and, reluctantly, Spanish. I was telling him that sometimes I don’t know which language I’m speaking because if it’s not English, they all get mixed up in my head. Basically, if I ever try to speak Catalan, Spanish gets in there one way or another. He told me he had the same problem, an allergy to Spanish. He said when he was growing up and all the ladies got together, the Catalan and French ladies would talk, but the Spanish would yell and screech. So now he has an allergy to Spanish. I love stories like this! Another random thing I love: being in a car. I’ve been taking the bus and walking everywhere, so I’ve seen the city from these perspectives, but something about being in a car feels so much more… I don’t know the word. Comfortable? Familiar? Like I’m an established local? I’m not sure. But in this week I’ve been in cars at least four times and it feels good, like I actually live here!
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Roommate Bonding?
So Sunday was wonderful and Monday was interesting. I had one class in the morning and stayed two and a half hours until my next class, and I am in the classroom getting ready when another teacher pauses to tell me that school is ending early so I don’t have class! Why they didn’t think to tell me sooner, I don’t know. But anyway, I then did some lesson planning and had Catalan class at night. I met a new girl in our class who is my age (yeah!), so I went home feeling like it had been a good day. I had no idea that it wasn’t even close to over…
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I was home starting to think about getting ready to go to bed, but I decided I wanted a yogurt. So I went to the kitchen and Carol and a friend were there eating and invited me to some food. We were sitting there with our tortilla, jamón, and cerveza when they told me they were going out for a drink and later Isabel would be there and wondered if I wanted to come. One drink, that sounded fine. They even said they would bring be back earlier if I wanted. Why not?
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Of course, things are a little different over here. For one thing, there was a friend visiting from Portugal, so it was a sort of festa, not a typical Monday night. We went to one bar with a bunch of friends (from all over I might add: Andorra, Spain, Portugal, and me representing the States). I had some interesting conversation with one guy about how he is anti-speaking-English, about the Simpsons and Family Guy, about Obama, September 11th, and who knows what else. By the time people started leaving around 12:30, I was already exhausted and ready to conk out, but of course we weren’t finished. Next we went to a karaoke bar where there was some singing and dancing and some creepy locals… I didn’t get home until close to 2:45. On a school night! It was fun and I met lots of people, not to mention practiced plenty of Spanish, but I was TIRED! Not as tired, though, as Isabel looked the next morning… I like that I’ve started to branch out on my own and meet people outside of our American bubble. (There is always a bubble, isn’t there? In home there was Maplewood, the International Baccalaureate program, at APU it was the Christian bubble, here it is American… how do I always manage to be so sheltered?)
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Tutoring
One thing that I had been debating since I got here was whether or not I wanted to do tutoring. The other Fulbrighters and Oxford students started looking for tutoring jobs off the bat, but I waited awhile because I didn’t want to be too overwhelmed while I was just starting to adjust to things here. Then suddenly this week I managed to go from one hour a week to 8 hours a week. One Fulbrighter in my Catalan class told me he had some people who wouldn’t stop pestering him about tutoring and he gave me their numbers. That meant one hour, two hours, three hours: a grand total of six hours. Then I got a call from another woman wanting tutoring for her two kids. I asked her yesterday how she got my number (the other woman works with Jeff and she has had Fulbright tutors for the past two years), and she had no idea! Someone who knew someone who knew someone else…
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Anyway, I was nervous about tutoring because with the experiences I’d had in class, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do more English teaching. But after my first day, I love tutoring! My first two students were cousins, one with a very high level of English and the other just a beginner. They both are well behaved and interested in English; why can’t my students at school be like this? Maybe it’s because these two go to the French school and not the Andorran one, I don’t know. My second two students were a surprise. With the first two, I had already met one of the moms the day before so I knew a little about their ages and levels, but with the second two I had no idea. When I was walking to their house I saw them waiting for me at the bus stop, but I wasn’t sure if it was them or not (though their mom was watching me), because they are 5 and 7! I love them! I’m lucky I grabbed a pack of cards at the last minute, otherwise I’m not sure what I would have done with them (especially because they can’t read much yet). We practiced numbers for the first time and played Go Fish, which was difficult for them because even though they can count to ten, for them it is just one big long word, so to figure out one number, they have to count to it first! They are so cute and I am excited to see what it’s like to start from scratch with English. At least I’ll know where they’re at, which I feel like I’ll never know at school because there it’s all over the place. It’s so interesting that so many students go to private English tutoring or private English schools. We don’t really value language enough at home, while here people are ready to pay lots of money for their kids to learn English. They already speak three languages just from living in Andorra! On the other hand, I think lots of the kids living in Andorra take it for granted.
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La Seu d’Urgell
Today was the Fira de Sant Ermengol in La Seu d’Urgell, the closest Spanish pueblo to Andorra. There was a cheese festival, so it was a no brainer that the other Fulbrighters would be attending. Besides the area full of cheese samples, there were also plenty of other booths in the street fair with anything from produce (some very tasty mandarinas), jamón, sausages, lard, olives, more cheese, membrillo, scarves, used books, antics, giant cowbells, you name it. It was my first time visiting La Seu and I really enjoyed it. I think it’s much prettier than Andorra la Vella because it is so much less commercial, there are lots of beautiful trees, and you can see much more in all directions because it isn’t in the mountains, though they can still see the mountains. And it is so much cheaper to get there than Barcelona! Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with me.
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So in this one week I’ve started going to church, joined a choir, and started tutoring. I just hope I am not overcommitted. That was one fear I had. It seems ridiculous for me to worry about being too busy when I only have 11 hours of official work per week (though that doesn’t count the time I am at school between classes or lesson planning at home), but when you add 8 hours of tutoring and 11 hours of language classes, it starts to add up. It is a power struggle between balancing my desire to get everything I can out of living here this year with my desire to do things well and stay organized and be able to really commit to each thing I do. I feel like the most practical thing to do would be to drop my Catalan class, but at the same time that is probably the least practical thing to drop! I just want to have enough time to do things well. I want to plan good lessons at school (though I feel like no matter how hard I try, it still wouldn’t be good), I want to prepare good lessons for my private students, I want to be able to really study French and Catalan, I want to have enough time to swim, I want to be able to practice my music for choir, and I want to have time to spend with friends (and make friends!)
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I feel so much more like a local now going from place to place, and I really enjoy that I have activities all over this tiny country. I have church in Arinsal, swimming, Catalan, and tutoring in Escaldes-Engordany, work and French in Andorra la Vella, and tutoring in Sant Júlia. That’s four of the seven parishes! It’s nice to move around, because when you’re always in one place and you only see the same buildings every day, you forget that we’re in the mountains and in a beautiful place. I’m lucky that my room has such a good view too, otherwise there would be days that I wouldn’t see any of it! The weather has suddenly turned much colder, but most days are still very sunny. No snow as of yet, though I’ve heard that where I live usually doesn’t get much snow anyway. Some of the leaves are starting to turn yellow, but I haven’t had a proper fall season for four years and I want to see some red and orange leaves! Right now I am watching the sun set over the amazing view from my window, so I can’t complain.