Typical Day
My normal weekday starts early as I have to get to class at CLIC by 9:15. I wake up, get ready, and have breakfast which is usually coffee and toast. Then my roommate and I walk to class, passing all the small schoolchildren going the opposite direction to their primary school.
Once at the school, a bell indicates when to get to our classrooms. My teacher opens class with a conversation about fun things we did the day before which always leads to a discussion about one thing or another. We spend the morning learning grammar and doing exercises with partners to practice.
At 10:55 we have a “pausa” or a break. I usually grab a cup of coffee from the cafe in the school or, if the line is too long, a cafe nearby. I like to spend my breaks writing in my journal and re-energizing with my coffee. After our 20 minute break we go back to class for an afternoon of more grammar exercises and sometimes a fun song.
At 1 in the afternoon, or 13:00 in Spain, everyone goes home for lunch and a siesta. Sometimes I eat lunch out or go shopping but many places are actually shut for the afternoon. Most of the time I go back to my home stay and have the lunch my host mom prepared and if I have time I take a nap.
In the afternoon I either have service learning or a group activity. For service learning I go with 3 other students to a private high school to help out with the kids and do activities with them. After getting dropped off by the school bus, I find a cafe to do work in and maybe a midafternoon snack. If we have a group activity we usually see a well-known site around Seville. One time we toured the Alcazar Palace but another afternoon we took a bus to Carmona to see the sights there.
When I get back from our group activity I do some homework before dinner at 9:30 at night. Everyone in the home stay sits together at a table in front of the TV and we eat dinner while watching the news. After we are finished, we all help clean up and then retire to our rooms. If our work is done for the next day, my roommate and I may treat ourselves to a nice walk and gelato before bed.
