End of School

Hi readers,
School ended in Madrid yesterday.  Each year this generates procrastination and despair over grading creative inspiration and time to consider blog fodder. (For notes from a previous year, click here) This year, as I cleaned out my desk, I found myself avoiding grading my finals asking some important self-knowledge questions:

1.  Do people in other professions love office supplies the way teachers do?  My favorite are binder clips!! I have them in all my drawers at school, small recycled glass jars full of a multi-sized rainbow of binder clips.  They also accumulate in my purses and my kitchen (for when I grade at home and need to binder clip 250 pages of exams together to get them back to school).  When I clean out my desk, I love to stop and treasure my little binder clip piles before I stack them away in a hidden cupboard for the fall. (Trust me, teachers are ruthless about stealing "borrowing" office supplies during summer school.  Who can blame them?  You need to make your joy when you are teaching summer school.)

2.  Is it weird to keep "gently-used" spoons in your desk drawer?

3.  How long should people be holding on to never-used hard-copy educational DVD's in this day and age?  My current running time with "Fishing for Change: A Video-Based Approach to Teaching Evolution Using the Oceans" is 5 years.  Our computers don't even have a DVD drive anymore....

4.  Why don't Spanish pencils have erasers?  Is this a thing in other countries as well?

5.  How long should I keep my workout clothes at school?  (The last time anyone used my gym sneakers, it was a student that needed to run on the treadmill for a science experiment.)

For now, my gym sneakers are safely stored away with my binder clips and I'm getting out my hiking boots for my first trip of summer--a week of mountains and beaches in the South of France.  Can't wait!! (For a reminder post about how obnoxiously much I love France click here).

Happy end of school to all the teachers out there!

Photo: www.sandygounified.org 

Getting old(er)

Hi readers,
There are a few moments in my life when I know without a doubt that I am getting older.  In no particular order:

1.  I'm excited to have a coffee Friday after work.

2.  I realize that the bartender/waitress/DOCTOR is younger than me.

3.  I have no idea what emoticons mean (or text abbreviations).

4.  I relish bringing my lunch to work.

And the most recent addition to the list....

5.  I buy travel insurance.

I noticed the travel insurance this spring.  I tend to purchase large quantities of airline tickets all at one time (not that weird for some select groups of people: young socialite jet-setters, parents of large families and......international teachers).  This summer for example, I purchased five sets of plane tickets (two international, three domestic in the span of 5 weeks.  Rough life, us teachers).

I had never purchased airline insurance before. However, my mother always did.  Last summer, it turned out we had a desperate need for the coverage.  My mother (on the eve of her 70-ish birthday) broke her ankle while we were traveling in Zambia.  As I filled out the packets (and packets) of paperwork that served to reunite us with our thousands of dollars, I realized the insurance had been a great idea.

I'd considered travel policies before, but always shied away at the last moment, reverse-clicking the tab as I decided that the idea sounded too expensive grown-up.  This year, I took the plunge.

Insurance land.  Population: old people. On fabulous summer vacations : )

For other indications that I am actually growing up, check out this post.

Surgical Spanish

Hi readers,

There are many things I am very tolerant about when it comes to my mediocre ability to speak Spanish. 

Server didn't understand I'm a vegetarian? Not a big deal. 

Cab driver takes the long way? I get it. 

Usually, I try to consider it an engaging challenge, like talking to people is a puzzle with lots of moving parts that don't fit together and I get to smile and laugh helplessly. Fun! (See vaguely related post here.  And here.)

But-after some stupidly brave attempts at Spanish hospital visits during my first year in Spain, I realized that I draw the line at my medical appointments. Going to the doctor in Spanish really freaks me out. 

That obvious fact plus a busy schedule is a perfect recipe for intimidating, longstanding medical problems.

This last week I made my first attempt to deal with an adorable little varicose vein that has been on the inside of my left thigh for...ahem...2 years. Yes, I've been monitoring it for growth and check with our school nurse (who I basically consider my general physician) to make sure it didn't seem cancerous, but it seemed time to get it looked at.

Here's a step-by-step breakdown:

Step 1: Use Spanish healthcare website to try and find English speaking doctor (Time on to do list: 4 months.  Time to attempt and realize I didn't want to go to a random internet doctor: 10 minutes)

Step 2: Go to school nurse AKA general physician and have her recommend English speaking doctor ( Time on to do list: 2 months. Time to complete: 10 minutes)

Step 3: Have nurse set up appointment (2 minutes)

Step 4: Attend appointment, where doctor tells me he speaks no English and proceeds to detail what is wrong with me and set up an appointment FOR MY LEG SURGERY in Spanish (1 hour)

Step 5: Go back to school nurse (Her name is Mamen, which I'm relatively sure is Spanish for 'angel sent from heaven to deal with my annoying questions').  Have her call doctor to translate why I need to go to a hospital. (I day)

Step 6: Meet Spanish doctor (now much more agreeable about speaking a small amount of English) in hospital for one veiny lump removal and 6 stitches (1 hour) 

The good news?  I learned lots!

Lesson 1: Spanish OR nurses like to say 'Jolene' (can be translated to 'oh hell') while they are in charge of cauterizing leg tissue WHILE THEIR PATIENTS ARE AWAKE UNDER LOCAL ANESTESIA)

Lesson 2:  I can deal with complicated stuff in Spanish by asking for lots (and lots and lots...) of help.  Very empowering.

Lesson 3:  It's very satisfying to take control of health care decisions and procedures (or at least, to have the very nice school nurse do it for you).  It takes a village. 

Lesson 4: If you really want to know if your doctor speaks English, don't speak to him in Spanish.  (I don't mean to be culturally insensitive.  Someone actually told me this and it was important to consider.)

Lesson 5: Having something on a to-do list doesn't mean a thing until I am actually ready to do it...then things start happening pretty fast. (see related thoughts about to do lists here)