Retired again, or at least unemployed

Well, I am no longer teaching at the Escuela Madrid. I told them last week, after 3-4 days of teaching, that it was evident to me that I was wearing down, and that they should look for another English teacher. I would not leave them in the lurch, but I didn't think I could keep up the pace for three months, especially with the other things that I need to take care of.

So, on Friday I saw Alexa (who first took me out there) and her husband in the office when I arrived at the school. They came out of the office a moment later, and she told me that she would be taking over as English teacher, but wanted to go with me to each of my classes that day to meet them and see how it went.

Of course, in the first class I was planning to give a test, but a little over half the class was out for a soccer match, which pretty well blew away any idea of giving a test, or of starting on a new section in the book. So instead I improvised, asking the class if they knew what the English word "ant" meant, and then telling them about my experience with the ants on Monday morning. I also told them that that was my last day to teach, and that Alexa would be taking over on Monday.

The other classes went more according to plan, except the seventh graders, which were involved in a different project, and we just had to skip. I did volunteer to come back as a substitute for a day or two if Alexa had a conflict, or was otherwise unable to be there. I really do enjoy teaching the students, but every day was too much.

On another note, one day during break I saw the boys playing a soccer variant that I had never seen before. They have a very small field, about 18 yards long, cut into the hillside so that both goals have a good backstop. The goals themselves are about 9 feet wide by 6 feet high, and the fronts of the goals are about 16 yards apart (as I paced them off). There is a line drawn on the ground halfway in between, or 8 yards from each goal, and two players stay on their half of the field, meaning they are not allowed to cross the center stripe.

The one in front tries to get in position and kick the ball into the opposing goal, without losing control of the ball and letting it roll across the center line, while the other one hangs back in the goalie position to try to block any shots that come his way. The first score that I saw here came when one of the players gave a powerful kick, which the front player across the line blocked such that it bounced directly into the goal behind the player who kicked it.

When a goal is scored, the team that was scored against sits down and a waiting team rotates in. And if I understood right, it is also the duty of the last team to rotate out to chase the ball should it head off down the hill, which is not uncommon.