a Wilde Explorer

A Foreboding Night Trek in San Sebastián

View from the mountainside, San Sebastian, 2021.

Arriving in San Sebastián after the sunset only added to the mystery of this place that I knew close to nothing about. Bilbao was the Northern Spanish city that I knew at least had the Guggenheim and a University, but the only thing I knew about San Sebastián was that I would get to see the ocean again.

I was traveling to Bilbao and San Sebastián with two of the biggest Spanish History nerds I knew: my friends Benjamin and Grayson. Benjamin studied old Spanish history, specializing in the Arabic influences in Spain. Grayson studied the Spanish language and knew about more recent Spanish history.

It was this more recent Spanish history that Grayson was telling me about on the bus ride from Bilbao to San Sebastián (which only cost about 9 Euros per person with the Alsa buses and is only an hour and a half bus ride). Benjamin took this time to sleep, considering he knew he wouldn’t get a lot of sleep that night being a light sleeper and sharing a room with Grayson and me.

With Grayson being a rather quiet person, his passion and excitement as he told me about the recent Spanish political turmoil surprised me. Now, it is not my place to talk about the political climate of a country that is not my own and without the proper background to speak eloquently about it, but I highly recommend anyone interested in learning more to check out these resources: Britannica, History.com, and The Guardian. It is with this new knowledge of Spain and where it came from, that I rode along the coast to this seaside town.

We arrived at around 7pm (19:00) and the first thing I noted was the ever present roaring of the waves in the night. I was immediately struck with giddiness and excitement to be there! The only other time I can remember the waves creating such a commotion was during my time on the coast of North Carolina (an Eastern, coastal state in the United States) at night walking along the beach, and even then the sound there was muted. These waves sounded hungry and rambunctious, like a pride of lions on the hunt.

My companions and I resonated with that hungry roar, as we had been walking all day in Bilbao and had just stepped off a bus. Benjamin (the man with the plans), told us that our hostel was “up in the mountains” and that it would be smart to eat down here first and then make our way up there when we wanted to end our night. He apologized for our place of rest being so far out of the way of everything, but assured us that he chose the one with the best price and good reviews.

Grayson and I trusted in Benjamin to deliver on his word, and together we set out with our full packs to find some food. We found this beautiful, hole in the wall Chinese place called Tsi Tao and it was everything we ever wanted and more. You know how food tastes like a dream when you’re starving? We hardly talked as we ate and enjoyed the warmth and quiet of the restaurant. Once we were done, the walking we had done all day with our heavy packs hit us like a ton of bricks: we were exhausted, our eyelids weighing heavy.

Grayson and I persuaded Benjamin that taking a taxi up the mountain would be a fair trip expense. But, there was only one person in our trio confident enough in their Spanish to call a taxi; and he was also the most socially reserved. Suffice to say, the hailing of a taxi was not possible. Grayson attempted twice to get a hold of the taxi service to no avail (after two failed attempts, he didn’t have the social energy to call again), and there were no other car services available in this self-sufficient coastal city.

We were faced with this hard truth: we would have to hike up this mountain, at night, in this city we haven’t been before, and it was going to be through the woods. Benjamin had charted our passage. He went on about how he had found the most direct route, but it wasn’t on any main roads. He said that if we wanted to stay on the main roads, it would take us about two hours to walk up, but if we took these smaller paths, it would only be about 45 minutes. We would be walking on passages that were defined by google maps as “foot only paths”. He told us that this would get us to our beds the quickest and that it would be fine; to his knowledge there was no dangerous wildlife here and that with the three of us together, we would be safe from anything else.

Now, here I am, a small woman in this situation. I’ve been on these sorts of sketchy adventures before. My philosophy is always: prepare for the worse, expect the best. Upon coming to Spain I learned that pepper spray is illegal to carry as a civilian. So, on this trip, I brought two, bright orange whistles, a small, but powerful LED light that fits on one’s zipper, and my Black Diamond Astro headlamp (I was once caught on a trail at night in the Cascade mountains without a light and now I took it with me on most trips). Tensions were high at this point to get to our beds as soon as possible, hence Benjamin proposing this potentially dangerous plan to hike this mountain through the woods at night. The boys looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to either backout and broach another option, or agree to the plan.

After taking a deep breath, I agreed to the trip and mentally and physically prepared for the trek. I had my full 25 liter Osprey pack on, which I put the bright green, reflective rain cover over for extra visibility in the dark, tied one of the orange whistles to my zipper and offered Grayson my other one along with my small LED light to tie to himself, then I fastened my Black Diamond headlamp on my head and double checked that I had nothing hanging off of me that would snag on something in the dark.

What my giant, overstuffed pack looked like, 2021.

Benjamin had little to prepare with his smaller, dark Osprey pack on. He would be in the front of the pack leading the way with his phone GPS, counting on me in the middle providing the light for him to see with my headlamp, and Grayson would bring up the back with his smaller light showing the way.

And with that, we were off. Our path had us hopping off the main road quickly, and started up these very well lit stairs. They were very steep, but I was hopeful that my headlamp would be unnecessary, as on either side of the stairs were people’s backyards, soccer fields, and every step was lit with street lights. We kept up light banter, teasing each other for huffing and puffing. I had the heaviest bag and fell behind, but I ushered them on and refused their offers to help carry anything (I’m too proud for my own good).

It felt like I had spent an eternity on these stairs, but in reality it was probably only about 20 minutes. Benjamin kept a quick pace, charging ahead, Grayson made sure to keep an eye over his shoulder for me, and paused often for me to catch up. We exchanged some pointed looks about the state of our party and how quickly Benjamin suggested such an extreme plan. Grayson and I got really good at communicating any particular emotion with just a look this trip. I mentally noted that Benjamin was the type of travel buddy that wouldn’t mind sacrificing comfort for the privilege of time management and “the most direct route”. I admired his stamina, but cursed his safety standards.

I mentally rejoiced when I saw the end of the stairs! It had us come out on another road. I saw a street lamp! And as I huffed my way to the top of the stairs, I realized with a belly flop of emotion that it was only one street lamp. Looking left and right, this road, framed by thick, still foliage, was pitch black. I couldn’t see up the road more than five feet in either direction from the yellow light of the single street light.

My mouth fell open, Benjamin let out a quick chuckle, and Grayson wore a very pointed look on his face that shouted his discomfort at this scenario.

There was nowhere else for us to go but up, we couldn’t go back now. I clicked on my headlamp and it shot out bright and fierce, cutting through the blackness with a comforting sharpness.

Benjamin continued to lead the way as we turned right up the road, a steady incline letting us know we were still heading up the mountain. At least it wasn’t as taxing as the stairs that seemed to head straight up, but we approached the part of this journey that was uncomfortable for a whole new reason.

I asked Grayson if he had ever seen The Blair Witch Project. He said yes. Benjamin wasn’t a movie person. The trees that aligned the street were dark and twisty, they seemed to have spiky fingers waving at us as we went on. I strained to listen for the sound of something walking on loose rocks and stacking them.

Grayson and I walked side by side and he kept his smaller light on, just in case. There was less talking on this leg of our journey. I was trying not to see shapes in the darkness, but kept my head on a swivel for any movement, while also keeping a steady direction ahead for Benjamin to see where he was walking, as my headlamp was the only thing keeping us from absolute darkness. Grayson seemed to be doing the same, but was being more subtle about it. Benjamin kept up his fast pace, not seeming to be thwarted at all by the vibe of our surroundings. I couldn’t decide if it was bravery or a lack of an imagination that protected him from the eerie setting.

We walked for another 20 minutes, and I kept hoping for Benjamin to announce that he saw something or that we were here. Instead, we came upon this large wooden archway that was off to our right. Benjamin read it, and apparently he not only couldn’t find where it was on the map, but he couldn’t recognize where we were on the map.

Grayson and I remained silent as we waited for Benjamin to re-coordinate where we were and in which direction we needed to go. Keep in mind that Benjamin was just as proud as I was about help, and insisted that he didn’t need any in plotting our trail to the hostel.

We continued up the incline, until we came upon more stairs to our left. Benjamin started up the stairs, and we followed. These stairs, as I would better see with the light of day, were moss covered and slimy. They were maybe 7 feet wide and framed by the forest that had been keeping us gloomy company this entire hike. I kept a steady, slow foot, but it seemed that Grayson was overcome with the urge to be out of the woods as quickly as possible, and basically ran up the stairs at Benjamin’s pace. I had no problem keeping slow. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than slipping and falling down these stairs in the dark forest where I didn’t know if anyone would find us.

Here is what these tricky stairs looked like during the day. Now imagine them at night with only a headlamp and a Spanish history nerd to guide you, San Sebastian, 2021.

These stairs ran out quicker than their more well lit neighbors and we were again on a dark, paved road. Benjamin started to the right, and again we continued up the steady incline. My hands became numb with cold and that made me wonder if we were high enough for a temperature drop. This road curved to the left as it went up, which at least gave me some comfort that there was some sort of direction we were going that wasn’t just deeper into the mountains.

My brain played cruel tricks on me.I wondered what would be worse: if we stumbled upon someone else walking up this road, or if we didn’t. I actively tried not to think about it, but I was also certain that I couldn’t feel the cold chill that probably ran up my spine at the thought, considering I could now see my breath as I walked.

Just when I started to imagine what our True Crime podcast would sound like when they found our bodies in the woods, I saw a light ahead of us. It was small and on the ground, but it was accompanied by more lights that seemed to outline a walkway down somewhere. Benjamin said that he was sure this was it and I was giddy with relief. I picked up my pace, which made my feet ache in protest, but I didn’t care. The thought of a hot shower and a warm bed was overwhelming.

The now lit path led us down to this parking lot with a couple of empty, dark cars sitting in it. I tried not to see this scene as ominous, but it was very hard after walking an hour in the dark forest. We now all seemed to possess the rushed pace of Benjamin as we hurried through this parking lot and were greeted with the sight of this large building not too far in the distance that was the most inviting place I think I’ve ever seen. It was a simple, yellow square-shaped building nestled in the woods with the name of our hostel on a wooden sign planted next to it.

I let out a shout of triumph! Benjamin kept trying to tell us that he knew where he was going all along and that we worried too much. Grayson let out a relieved laugh and figured there must be an easier way to get up here. We agreed to look into it once we were settled. Overall the hike took us about an hour and 15 minutes.

The hostel was charming and had a feel of a stay-away camp from when you were little. Our room had two bunk-beds, a full bathroom, and a large set of lockers for our things. We sat up for a bit and chatted in quick, energetic tones as we were still coming down from the violent relief of finishing our tense trek. But, once we all showered, we climbed into bed and immediately fell silent. As I settled in, I realized and voiced my fear that if we didn’t find a cheap way to get up and down this mountain, we would have to make that same hike 3 more times: twice down and once more up, as we planned to stay 2 nights in San Sebastián. Benjamin and Grayson had seemed to already come to this conclusion, and settled on finding comfort in the fact that we’ve done it successfully once already.

I was not so easily satisfied by that, but I fell asleep before I could spend any more energy worrying about it.

This was originally going to be a post about the sights that I saw on my first night in San Sebastián, but upon telling this story I realized that I didn’t take any pictures of our hike up the mountain because I was too scared and didn’t want to look down for a second. Also, it was at night and there was nothing to see but dark forest lit by my headlamp. Which, I now realize, would’ve been a cool shot. But, I suppose I’m going to find myself in similar situations as I have become comfortable with our traveling trio and see myself planning another trip with them soon.

A couple of notes I would like people to take away from this story are:

DON’T hike at night up a mountain in a city you do not know (we were very lucky)
DON’T wait until last minute to plan how you are going to get to your bed at night
DO bring a headlamp or flashlight wherever you go (you never know when you’re going to need it. And you’d rather have it and not need it than vice versa),
DO always bring twice the amount of socks than you think you need. On one of our treks down the mountain, it began to rain, and let me tell you: I was incredibly thankful that I had a pair of dry socks.

Yes, this was a dramatic start to our two nights in San Sebastián, but the remainder of the trip was nothing less of an enchanting, entertaining, and exciting travel adventure.

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Check Out my Trip to Bilbao That Happened Earlier the Same Day

A Day Trip to Bilbao, Spain

by Kearstin Estrada January 22, 2022January 23, 2022

A Day Trip to Bilbao, Spain

It’s Sometimes Sunny in Bilbao, 2021. View from Airbnb.

I am a water person. I adore being near and in big bodies of water. I enjoy smelling the saltiness in the air and feeling the moisture in my hair (okay Dr. Seuss). Unfortunately, Madrid is a land-locked city with no real bodies of water in or close by it. This has led me to possess the strong desire to see water again. I got to see the Mediterranean ocean when I went to Barcelona back in October, but I didn’t spend nearly enough time soaking up the atmosphere.

Plus, it’s not only the water that I’m craving, It’s the cold, the wet, the rainy, and the muddy. My favorite city that I have lived in has been Seattle, Washington in the States. The giant trees, the morning mist, the constant smell of the salty ocean that hung on every inhale…it was like a land lost in time. The smell of wet mud is one of my favorites and the city was drenched with it.

It was with this expressed desire, that a couple of people told me that I would find what I was looking for up in Northern Spain in Bilbao and San Sebastian.

It’s a 6 hour bus ride up to Northern Spain from Madrid, and I swear, in that amount of time one truly passes into a completely different world. The bus route takes you through mountains and up to their snowy peaks, it takes you over plateaus with evergreen forests, and we even passed this city with nothing else in it but an old church and a couple of houses. I highly recommend taking the bus through these areas, it was enchanting to witness.

Entering Bilbao. Photos courtesy of Grayson, 2021. I left my phone charger at home and I forced him to take enough photos for 2 people.

We arrived in Bilbao late on a Friday and had dinner at this little pizza place where all the hip, younger people of Basque country gathered. The pizza was satisfying and I was in good company. I was traveling with two of the best people to travel with in Spain: my friends Benjamin and Grayson. Benjamin studied very early Spanish history, specifically involving the Arabic people’s early time here. Grayson studied the Spanish language and speaks perfect Spanish and knows a lot of the more recent history here in Spain. As we explored Bilbao they chatted easily about the architecture and significance of random historical items having a home this far North (this became quite apparent when the appearance of a certain very old sword that held importance in Granada, was found way up in a museum in San Sebastian. Benjamin thought it quite the scandal!).

Our first evening in Bilbao we drank our first taste of a local, craft beer in Spain. It was at this brewery called Penguin Bar that had an unusual amount of animal skeletons in it for a place with such a jovial name. We toasted to a good night and safe journey and called it a night after a very long conversation about how the era of good video games was at an end. Apparently a Star Wars game called Knights of the Old Republic was the last great video game ever made. Don’t argue with me! Benjamin was very adamant on this point.

We woke up fresh the next morning and I told the boys I could not begin my day without a cup of coffee. We left the Airbnb with all of our things (which meant I would be hauling around my very full Osprey 25 liter pack all day) and went out in search of a good latte. We stumbled upon this place that looked fine mostly because it had a place where you could order from the street. Turns out, they preferred you ordered inside and we were ushered in to this bar at 9am that did have an espresso machine, but also had what appeared to be Girls Gone Wild Spanish Version playing on a large TV on one side of the room and numerous amounts of rather large bottles of tequila lining the wall.

I’m lactose intolerant, so I asked for soy milk, which the man said he had, but then proceeded to walk out the front door. Considering the socially awkward, inclined politeness of the trio I was in, we sat down and waited for the man to come back, assuming he would. There were two small tables in the place, but we were so close together with the two gentlemen talking loudly at the next one that we were basically a part of their gathering. I had my back to the provocative TV show, but I found it entertaining to watch the other 2 members of my party avert their eyes while we waited and made tired attempts at conversation. I needed coffee to be social and the other 2 didn’t feel comfortable talking in front of strangers.

Eventually, the man came back with a freshly bought carton of soy milk and whipped up a decent latte. I thanked him profusely and Grayson ordered a last minute pastry to tip the man for running to the store for me. It was only upon leaving the place that I noticed that one of the doors was barred closed with wood from the inside. What an interesting coffee shop that was, but such a kind individual!

Photos courtesy of Grayson, whose eye for capturing architecture is well attuned, 2021.

Having been successfully caffeinated, Benjamin directed us to this archeological museum that exhibited the early settlements of humans in Northern Spain. I thought this was especially interesting since I’ve only ever seen archeological exhibits from the States. Grayson and Benjamin noted the seemingly Celtic influence in the early writings and gravestones of the Basque country. Ever since they pointed it out, I can’t help but see these connections in small happenings throughout the city. Mainly, it was the early use of circles to represent suns, moons, and passages of time.

After the museum, we made our way deeper into the city of Bilbao and Benjamin told us (he was the man with the plan) that there was a sort of sky trolley that would take us up to the top of this mountain where we could get a full view of the city. We were all on board! I was a little nervous since I’m terrified of heights, but sometimes I can be motivated by social pressure.

I am so glad that I was motivated by social pressure! The view was breathtaking! And to make things better, it started to rain while we were up there and it invited this crawling mist to travel and hang all over the city.

The rain soon turned to hail and we began to run around the city, ducking under any and all protective coverings. That is, until we found a place for lunch: Rio Oja, a family owned restaurant specializing in Basque country classic cuisines. Most dishes were served in these small pots made of dark clay and paired with white wine, considering the majority of them were seafood. I had this white fish, which seemed to have been boiled in this thick oil, with onions. It was salty and the oil stuck to my lips for a good amount of time after the meal. The wine paired with it was exquisite! Grayson had the same thing as me and Benjamin had something that featured lamb with native vegetables.

One thing to note about my companions is their ability to open up socially after one glass of wine. The conversation became active after a whole bottle of wine and bounced easily from one topic to another. I learned that Grayson has a deep love for Fleetwood Mac. For dessert, we each had different things considering Benjamin didn’t like chocolate and Grayson favored more fruity sweets. I had this sorbet, shake-like drink with vodka, Benjamin had a vanilla cake soaked in whiskey, and Grayson had a peach-filled cake.

Some of the best white wine! Served at Rio-Oja, 2021.

After that, Grayson and Benjamin were tipsy and the rest of the afternoon was us walking around the streets of Bilbao discussing Grayson’s love life and the beautiful architecture. We passed by the Guggenheim but didn’t go in since we all weren’t big fans of modern art, but the building outside was striking and the sculptures on the outside were very curious looking.

The Guggenheim and this cat/dog-like creature made of various types of flora standing guard out front. Courtesy of Grayson, 2021.

The contrast between the old city and the new was also something to comment on. It was interesting to physically see the difference, as well as feel it. The older streets seemed used to being walked on, whereas the new streets pushed back against our feet like they were fighting for attention. At the end of our time in Bilbao, I’m sure that we walked a lot, but my boots became especially scuffed from the newer cobblestones.

It was around 5pm that we decided to seek out the bus stop and make our way to San Sebastian. Benjamin suggested we only have a day in Bilbao since there weren’t many museums, castles (my man loves his castles), or other architectural things to visit. I was moderately sad about this, as I had fallen in love with the coastal scents and feeling of being close to the water.

The older part of the city is surrounded by a man-made river, requiring the city to construct some beautiful bridges. Courtesy of Grayson, 2021.

But, what I didn’t know is how much I would love San Sebastian. Bilbao was gorgeous and haunting looking, yes, but San Sebastian is on an entirely different level.

Would I consider moving to Bilbao? Yes! My favorite thing about the city was the feel of it wanting to grow and change, but still preserving its history by keeping the architecture and cuisine untouched by the influence of time. I found the dedication to this movement inspiring, and eerily reminiscent of the push and pull of the tide: a place wanting to advance, but taking support and comfort from where it came from. What beautiful potential for a deeper understanding on what it means to truly take history into consideration when building a better future. I cannot wait to visit again.

Courtesy of Grayson, who should really get into photography, 2021.

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Getting Professionally Rejected

I feel that a lot of us see themselves as content in where we are. Professionally, financially, physically. But, then there comes along an opportunity to improve and we think, “Yes, here’s an opportunity to be more than content with my life. Here is an opportunity to grow”. I’ve had a couple of these moments myself. A couple of these opportunities were forced upon me. Such as the time that I moved to a new city and my first car got totaled because I was t-boned by this high teenager. I had insurance and with that insurance money I got my yoga certification. I saw this as turning a really negative event into a positive one. It made me feel clever about how I managed my life.

Then, when covid hit and we were all forced to quarantine, I was rather fortunate to receive a good portion of money from unemployment. I used those funds to help me get to Spain and settle my life here. Again, another time that I felt like I one-upped the universe and turned the odds to my favor.

After each of these negative occurrences had hit my life, I remember thinking that my world was over and wondering how I could possibly recover from such a devastating karmic defeat. But, then I would make a plan to use this time to accomplish one of my dreams. I’ve always wanted to delve deeper into yoga and get certified to teach it. I’ve always wanted to live in Europe and explore the world. Accomplishing these two rather large goals would not have been possible had it not been for the accompanying “tragedies”. It’s a rather cheesy conclusion to come to, but I’m happy that those rotten things happened because without them I wouldn’t be where I am today.

No, I’m not working my dream job. No, I don’t have a lot of money. But, I live in a beautiful city, with kind, funny roommates, and I wake up everyday content and happy with where I am.

Yes, getting this job would have changed my life and I would have more money and more of a handle on where my future is headed. But, it’s never been in my life’s style to just hand me things. I’ve always had to go through defeat to rise up and realize that I’m capable of so much more.

Yes, those two occurrences involved me receiving money, but maybe this time life is serving up a simple little problem, rather than a large tragedy to get me in the right direction. A rejection. I, like most people, do not take rejection well. But, I can either let it get to me and use the rest of the day to wallow and play the Sims. Or, I can write. Writers write. I tell people that I like to write and that I do. But, I really don’t do it that much. My writing has gotten choppy and sloppy. And that tends to happen to most muscles when they are not flexed and stretched. I am a writer. And I am going to write. Damn it.

So, here I am: a living, breathing energy conductor. Which, I get we all are, in a way. I need to transfer this negative energy into something positive and constructive. What can I make out of this? Yes, I want to visit this castle with my friend tomorrow, but maybe I should stay home and write. Maybe I should stay home and develop my website. I need to flex these muscles again. They’re here, they just need some work.

And I’m going to start working by writing a poorly written blog post. That will most likely be followed by another poorly written blog post. But, damn it, they will be blog posts that I publish on my website. And they will be me writing.

Anyway, here’s some mediocre photography. 2021, Madrid, Spain.

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My Contributions, Highlights, and Reflection of my Time as a Language Assistant

Yes, the photo is blurry, but it doesn’t make it any less meaningful. This is my team of Auxiliaries and me at our school, probably a month into the position. I remember feeling so incredibly excited for this opportunity to actually teach and learn alongside young learners who wanted to know about the world just as much as I did. My students were as enthusiastic as I was to be there and it fueled my passion for knowledge and language every day. I’ve been in my position for 4 months now, and I am so happy with where I am and what I do.

My contributions to the Language Assistant program, hopefully, include my passion, organization, and excitement to be a part of something so great. Also probably this entire portfolio and organized resources made available to the other language assistants. I hope that when my students look back at their time in school that they remember that silly, fun, and adventurous Language Assistant in their class from the States and remember how big the world is and that it’s just waiting for them to explore it. I hope that they welcome the idea of the unknown and embrace it with the curiosity that they embrace everyday with. My contributions were laughs, songs, games, and an immortalized video of me dressed as a skeleton dancing with them doing a silly Halloween dance.

The highlights for me were really all of us coming together during the holidays. I very much enjoyed my time sharing Halloween and Thanksgiving with my classes. It was during these times that I saw their excitement the most and that made me excited for my day, too. My young learners weren’t there to learn grammar, since they were 5 years old, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t learn cultural concepts. And I hope a highlight for them is knowing someone from the United States and having a positive impression. It’s interesting knowing that you represent a whole country for someone, let alone 100 plus little someones, but I feel that I did an alright job at it.

Overall, my reflection and takeaway from my time as a Language Assistant is to relax and trust in the fact that the students are just as excited to have you there as you are to be there. Also, to not take yourself so seriously. My first week there, I wore a black blazer the entire time. Not to say anything against black blazers, but let me tell you, the 3 year olds got a kick out of my fancy buttons, but that didn’t stop them from sitting in my lap and getting paint all over my clothes. Nothing dresses you down more than spending long periods of your day with very young children who are just learning how to wash their hands.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Main Activities I Developed as a Language Assistant

The following are a couple examples of lessons, activities, and presentations that I have created or borrowed and adapted to fit my students. I made sure to list the appropriate age range for each activity, as well as my sources if any were used.

The Introductory Presentation

To begin my time as an Auxiliary in the Spanish classroom, I created an introductory presentation that let the students know who I am, where I come from, and a little bit more about me, such as my favorite color and the names of my pets. Depending on the age I was presenting to, I also included questions I had for the students, such as asking their favorite colors and animals. I left out these questions for the 3 year olds, instead using a “thumbs up, thumbs down” approach to their likes and dislikes based on the photos I was showing them. I was happy that the 3 year olds eventually turned this into saying, “Yes” and “No”, demonstrating to me that they were engaged in my presentation and had some English knowledge.

This activity was used for all of my classes (students aged 3 years-7 years).

You can download my presentation below or find it at this link.

kearstin-introductory-presentation Download

Songs, Listening, and Vocabulary Comprehension Activities

Often time the beginning of the English lessons either with the main teachers or the traveling English teachers would involve an English song that the children would all sing together. This song, or songs, would be one or more of the following: “How’s the Weather Today?”, “The Days of the Week”, “Hello, How are You?”, “Hello Friends, How are You?”, and/or “BINGO”. Some of these songs I have found accompaniments with on YouTube, others I have just picked up from my fellow teachers or my memory from learning them when I was a child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmF8zOlh_g, Accessed, 2022.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVlcKp3bWH8, accessed 2022.

These songs are always accompanied by either a dance or hand motions to go along with the rhythm or vocabulary of the songs. For example, in the “Hello!” song when the students sing about being tired they mime laying their head on pillows, or for hungry they rub their bellies. It is with these movements that the songs and activities becomes more proactive and the students develop a firmer hold on the vocabulary.

Along with the motion-centered songs and the upbeat dances is the repetition of the activity. The students know it is the beginning of the English lesson when they see a member of our English lesson team and they quickly form a circle and we start with one of the songs. It is because of this repetition that the students know all of the words to these songs and are excited to sing along with us in English.

The age range for the songs listed above is 3 years-5 years. My first graders like more modern songs, such as ones from movies they watch at home.

After the every day songs comes the everyday activities. These can range from story time with English books, drawing/ coloring activities, to simple card games.

Frog and Toad Storybook Favorites by Arnold Lobel, 1970, HarperCollins Publishers

Frog and Toad stories are classics from the States that I was exposed to as a child. I remember loving the characters and the hijinks they would get into, and the students are equally as enthralled! The simple vocabulary along with the pictures makes the stories accessible and easy to follow. In the book that I brought over from the States, there are even stories that take place during common holidays that the students are familiar with or that wrap in with our current lesson.

The above letters are used for more one on one lessons with the students who are learning how to read and see English words. Often times in large classes when students are playing games, the main teacher will ask me to take a small group of students into another class room for either some one on one time or small group time. Often with these letters I will go over spellings of English words, for example, I went over the spelling of numbers with first graders with this kit. In addition to these spelling reviews I would also bring along a basic deck of cards. With the first graders we would play Go Fish and work on numbers 1-10 in English, as well as the phrases: “Do you have a 10?”, “No”, “Go Fish!” These two activities are ones that I would always have on me, as well as a book. My days can sometimes be spontaneous and I have to think of an activity quickly on my feet. Having these learning tools with me at all times definitely came in handy more than once.

For my first graders this was the book the teachers gave me to help me create activities that supported the current lessons that the class was focusing on that week.

An example of a page in the Young Learners book provided by the school.

The class would take a whole week for a chapter. For example, the first graders had a week learning the vocabulary of a birthday. I would help the teacher carry out vocabulary recap and I helped her think of fun activities to use the vocabulary, such as memory games.

I really enjoy sketching and drawing, so for some lessons I would draw my own worksheets to assist with the assignments. The above example was used for the 4 years and the 5 years classes to help solidify their English color vocabulary.

All of the above listed activities I used for all age ranges. I had to always take into consideration the knowledge level of the classes ( I can’t play Go Fish with my 3 year olds) and the basic abilities of my classes (my 3 year old class can’t cut and paste a craft project). But, I never had any difficulties coming up with age appropriate activities for any of my classes.

Halloween Activities

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and sharing it with my students was such a pleasure! During the days leading up to the holiday, my classes were practicing to perform a song and dance in front of their peers. It was called The Halloween Stomp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jieCxKqPk0 accessed, 2022.

This became a part of the student’s daily routine and soon they had it memorized and were singing and dancing without needing the video. The goal was to have them comfortable with it to be able to perform it in front of their classmates. This was a super fun activity to do because all of my infantile classes got to participate and dance together outside.

Myself and the other Auxiliaries in my school were in front of the whole school dancing to help the students follow along with the dance, while the teachers got to record to the students dancing so that the parents could watch their children perform. This was done because covid wouldn’t allow for the parents to watch in person. Unfortunately, I don’t have permission to share the videos, but imagine more than a hundred laughing students dressed in amazing costumes dancing along to the song above. It was a memory I will cherish forever.

In addition to this video was another song that the children became familiar with that involved more Halloween vocabulary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jxcWlq3CBg, accessed 2022.

The students really enjoyed learning new songs and vocabulary that were about Halloween. It was easy to find new songs and activities that went along with the songs thanks to the many valuable resources found online. I never had any problem finding coloring pages or even drawing a couple of my own for the students to have fun learning with.

Another valuable resource to note is the other Auxiliaries I was in communication with during this time. Many of us are on WhatsApp and it was through this app that we were able to communicate easily and share ideas with one another. The next learning tool I have to share is a PowerPoint that is something a couple of us Auxiliaries had a privilege to work on and share with everyone. I edited this one to suit my younger students, but I’m sure this PowerPoint could also be edited for older students, as well.

I do not fully own this PowerPoint, this was a collaborative effort of many Auxiliaries.

You can find the full PowerPoint here.

A game that I began with my students around this time is a Pictionary, of sorts. I use the vocabulary the students have been exposed to the most, primarily Halloween vocabulary, and I have the children get into pairs. I then pass out a worksheet that is very simple, with 6 boxes on one side numbered 1-6. Then, I list the pairs as teams on the board and tell the students to listen and draw. I write a vocabulary word on the board and repeat it aloud, and the students have to work together to draw the vocabulary word in the designated box provided. For example, I would write the word ‘PUMPKIN’ on the board and say, “Pumpkin, draw a pumpkin in box number one.” The students would then have 30 seconds to draw a pumpkin in box number 1. Once the timer is up, we say pencils down, and the teacher goes around telling me which team gets a point for drawing a pumpkin and which team does not get a point this round. I then mark the teams that gets points and we continue on to another vocabulary word. The students really loved this activity and the teachers and I had fun seeing their creative and competitive sides coming together. This activity is one that I used for each Holiday Vocabulary set that I had. The students enjoyed it and remained engaged with each set. I highly recommend it! Though, this activity would be too advanced for the 3 year old class.

Thanksgiving Activities

Thanksgiving activities were a bit interesting considering my age range and that most of my students had no idea what cranberry sauce was. I kept it very simple with my infantile classes and focused on the food and the thankfulness.

I made a PowerPoint about all of the food the United States eats on Thanksgiving and family traditions of thankfulness.

You can find the PowerPoint presentation here.

WHO HAS THE TURKEY FOR THANKSGIVING?

I created a version of, WHO TOOK THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR? And made it Thanksgiving themed so the cookies were replaced with a turkey.

Here’s how you play:

I created a deck of flashcards that had American Thanksgiving food items on it, such as: stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, apple cider, green bean casserole, and turkey. Each card had a picture of the item as well as the name spelled clearly beneath it.
The class is arranged to sit in a circle. I usually have the young students just sit on the floor with their legs crossed. The cards are then dealt out, one to each student, and they are told to keep their card secret and not to show their classmates. I make sure that at least 4 turkey cards are dealt out, but consider the size of your own class and adjust accordingly.
The students then place the card face down in front of them, after looking at it themselves. The teacher then chooses a student at random to begin the song that everyone sings together. It goes: “Who has the turkey for Thanksgiving? Alex has the turkey for Thanksgiving!”
Alex would then go, “Who me?” and the class would answer, “Yes you!” and Alex would either go, “I do!” If they have the turkey, or “Not me!”
If “I do,” Alex would place his turkey card in the middle of the class and the song would continue once Alex guessed the next classmate to have a turkey. If, “Not me!” the class would respond, “Then who?” and Alex would say a name of another student to continue the song
The song would then continue to include the next name as follows: “Who has the turkey for Thanksgiving? Santiago has the turkey for Thanksgiving!” And the song continues until all of the turkeys that were dealt are found and placed in the middle of the circle.

Note: While the students are singing, they are clapping their knees and then clapping their hands to keep a rhythm going with the song they are singing. It is in this way that kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learning methods are all combined for a prime teaching style.

Note: This game is for ages 3 years-7 years. An adjustment I made for the 7 year olds was in addition to saying, “Not me!” if they don’t have the turkey, they add: “I have the mashed potatoes!” This way they use the new food vocabulary they learned. Please note that this addition should only be used with this activity if the Thanksgiving presentation is used before it so that the students are exposed to the New vocabulary.

The students thought that the mashed potatoes were poop and had no idea what stuffing was, but they had fun with it.

Coloring and crafts were also a huge part of celebrating Thanksgiving with my younger students and they had a lot of fun coloring, cutting, and pasting their turkeys together to make a nice Happy Thanksgiving Poster.

With my older students, I went over what it meant to be thankful of something and we made “I am thankful for…” leaves which they then used to decorate a tree that was hanging up in their hallway. Surprise, surprise many first graders are most thankful for their toys, but! A lot of them are also thankful for things like: water, cars, zebras, and teachers (yay!).

Christmas Activities

Christmas was a bit easier than Thanksgiving considering that all of my students knew what it was and why we celebrate it. They also were quite familiar with the vocabulary, even in English! This made my job very easy and allowed us to focus on more advanced games and fun challenges.

Just as with the other holidays, I had a PowerPoint for the vocabulary and a general introduction.

Christmas Vocabulary

You can download the PowerPoint below.

merry-christmas Download

Just as I did with the Halloween vocabulary, I played the same Pictionary game with the Christmas vocabulary. This was especially fun because we got to use the more challenging vocabulary and because for most of the month of December the students were dressed up as reindeer, elves, or little Santa Clauses and it was really cute.

The songs and dances that accompanied this holiday were also in surplus. I offered up plenty of classics, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Jingle Bells. The students were very familiar with the tunes of these songs, already, so it was easy to have them sing along with me with the English lyrics. For the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer song and dance I used the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khcOMutS0vs, accessed 2022.

Also, similarly to Halloween, the students were meant to learn a song and dance that they were going to perform as a group and have recorded for their parents. This was the Christmas Twist and the song and dance is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23vmZ-r2RaY&t=1s, accessed 2022.

Unfortunately, because of covid, the students didn’t get to perform this dance because the school closed a day early, but I hope that they performed it for their parents all the same because they worked really hard memorizing the dance and the lyrics.

I had two big projects of my own for this special time and they were reindeer hats and cookie ornaments. The reindeer hats I got offline from this amazing website called Simple Everyday Mom. Below is a picture of the craft and the link to the website where you can download the craft cutout.

Reindeer Headband Craft For Christmas [Free Template] — Courtesy of Simple Everyday Mom Check out her other crafts, too!

The kids had an absolute blast with this simple craft! I adored seeing their creativity and they wore their reindeer hats the rest of the day.

My final craft was the cookie ornament. This was something that I’ve always wanted to do with a class and I was so happy with how the ornaments turned out! The students were able to craft their own ornaments using cookie cutters in the shape of houses, angels, reindeer, and stars. Then, once the ornaments were dry, they were able to paint them and hang them on their Christmas tree or wherever they wanted to put them. This craft I did for all ages and was super fun and hands on. The young students were able to use their vocabulary that they had already known for Christmas time and flex their creativity with colors and shapes. The recipe for the craft is below along with a video of what the ornaments look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyfUEqiV_hg, accessed 2022.

Recipe followed here.

My time as an Auxiliar looked a bit different because of Covid, but the activities and crafts that I did with my students were every bit as engaging and memorable as normal times. For my younger learners, songs and dances were the way to get them to be excited about my lessons and it was easy to compile a good collection of them from the amazing sources that I had on hand and my own memories of learning vocabulary growing up. Because of strict parents, I’m not able to show any photos of my students, but let it be known that they were smiling just as much as I was when we danced the Halloween stomp and carved out reindeer ornaments together. The activities I cultivated were made all the more rewarding because I got to share them with my amazing students.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Final Project

500+ American Football Pictures [HQ] | Download Free Images on Unsplash — Source: https://unsplash.com/s/photos/american-football

Basic Information

NAME: Kearstin Estrada

LESSON TITLE: American Football

GRADE/ AGE LEVEL: 1st Grade/ 6-7 year olds (Can be adapted for infantile)

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY LEVEL: Low Beginner

TIME REQUIRED: 90 minutes: Two 45 minutes classes. First for Introduction, second for gameplay

Objective:

Learners will be able to visually identify English vocabulary pertaining to American Football, verbally communicate with their classmates using the English vocabulary pertaining to American Football, and understand the fundamentals of American Football. The vocabulary being introduced in the assignment are: FOOTBALL, TEAMS, CATCH, TOUCHDOWN, THROW, POINT, CHEER, KICK, HOLD, TOUCH, PARTNER, PLAYERS, QUARTERBACK, JERSEY.

Materials Needed:

The ability to present the 2 videos and PowerPoint presentation to the class. PowerPoint found here. Or at the end of this lesson.
The worksheet for the practice part of the lesson. Found here. Or at the end of this lesson.
Coloring tools for the students.
Paper and strings for the Jersey craft
Football and markers for the touchdown

Description of the Lesson

This lesson is made to teach students about a sport that is popular in the United States by introducing new vocabulary, viewing the sport in play, and using the vocabulary themselves when they are able to play the sport in person. It is a lively lesson that will excite the young learners and keep them moving which will engage their kinesthetic learning as well as their listening skills. The vocabulary will be taught through repetition and then through usage while they play the newly learned sport. Since this is a very hands-on lesson involving physical activity, the teacher should make sure that all students are engaged and that none are being limited by the physical action that is used for this lesson. An idea for a student that is a little less interested in the physicality of this lesson can be SCOREKEEPER or a REFEREE. Make sure to highlight these rolls if this problem is foreseen.

Teacher’s role in this lesson: offer clarifications in Spanish and make sure that the student’s are understanding the rules of the game.

Language Assistant’s role in this lesson: conduct the class, present the lesson and corresponding vocabulary.

Lesson Evaluation: This lesson is about vocabulary usage and comprehension. We will know the student’s have succeeded when they are using the vocabulary during gameplay and when they are playing the game correctly.

Steps Required to Complete the Lesson

Warm Up: Q/A with the students about what football means to them and introduce and identify the difference between Spanish football and American Football. This can begin verbally, but should be supported by photos. I have my first couple of slides in a presentation dedicated to visually showing a couple of differences between the two sports.
Introduction: Video of American Football containing clips of the game in play and a more simple video of what is happening when the players are playing. Two videos: the first for entertainment, the second to illustrate what is happening while you play. This is when the vocabulary will first be introduced.
Practice: The vocabulary is stated simply with visual support. This is a continuation of the presentation. After the vocabulary is reviewed and talked about, this is when the worksheet will be presented. After the worksheets are completed and turned in, this is when teams are decided and the rest of the class is dedicated to a jersey decoration craft.
Application: The students are separated into 3 teams: Red/ Blue/ Purple. This was predetermined at random from last class. The students put on their jersey, sit by their teams, and the videos and vocabulary are reviewed from the previous class. The students then go outside and play American football with touch instead of tackle as a rule. Two teams play against each other and the third team are the cheerleaders. The play rotates until each team gets a chance to play against each other.
Closure/ Warm Down: No winner has to be determined, the goal is for the students to use the English vocabulary such as “catch” and “throw” while they are playing. The games end when one team gets to a certain amount of points that can be decided upon by the teacher. Once the games are finished, the students can go back into class and a discussion about the game highlights and the likes and dislikes of the game can be discussed.

The Lesson Detailed with Times

WARM UP: The warm up is a question and answer portion where I ask the class if they know anything about American Football. I will introduce this topic by first asking about Spanish football, to pique their interests and get them excited about the topic of sports. When a student names a relevant American Football term I will write it on the board in list form. Once the students can no longer supply any examples of vocabulary, I will pull up my presentation and begin with the first couple of slides that illustrate some differences between American and Spanish football. This warm up is a great way to start this topic because I can gauge how much information they already have on the topic and because I know my students are excited about sports. This sort of question and answer format will excite the students and raise the energy level for my presentation ahead.

Time: 7 minutes

INTRODUCTION: The introduction to the topic of American Football is best done by watching a full game, but in this section of the lesson I have a couple exciting clips of the game to present to the students. The first video is simple, but exciting as short clips of the game are presented to the students to observe and get a feel for how the game is played. After the first video, the vocabulary is presented in a straight-forward way with pictures. The students should repeat the vocabulary and practice saying the words as they are presented. After the first wave with the vocabulary, the second video is played and it explains, using the vocabulary, how to play the game.

Time: 15 minutes

PRACTICE: The vocabulary from the presentation is reviewed once more. After the review, the worksheets that accompany the lesson are handed out. The first section of the worksheet is a listen and draw exercise with the vocabulary that the students had just reviewed. After that, the worksheet goes into a review of “throw” and “catch”, to ensure that the students understand the basic vocabulary established in the game. This is also when the teacher and the language assistant will work together to determine whether the students understand the rules of the game. To further clarify, the language assistant will go over the rules of gameplay on the board by reinforcing the vocabulary and providing images. The last page of the worksheet is part of the warm down activity as it is a coloring activity. After the worksheet is completed by the students, they are turned in and team colors are handed out to each student. Team colors take the appearance of 2 pieces of paper that the students can decorate with a number and their team name, then the jersey is constructed with strings so that they stay on the students during the game play. This craft activity brings the lesson to the end of the first day.

Time: 23 minutes

APPLICATION and WARM UP FOR SECOND PART: The beginning of the second part of the lesson is established with a vocabulary review. The presentation is reviewed and the videos are recapped so that the students can get a refresh for how the game is played. The teacher asks for any last questions or clarifications from the students. The students are reminded to use the English vocabulary used during gameplay.

Time for warm up: 12 minutes

GAMEPLAY: The students play a simplified version of American Football that is touch not tackle rules. The goal of this gameplay is to hear the students using the English vocabulary learned earlier in the lesson. The 3 teams are rotated after a defined time (I would suggest around 10 minutes per game between 2 teams). Whenever 2 teams play, the third takes on the role of the cheerleaders. The goal of this gameplay is to see if the students can demonstrate their knowledge of the vocabulary.

Time for gameplay: 30 minutes

WARM DOWN/ CLOSURE: The students return to the classroom and an open discussion is established as the questions of “How was the game?”, “What were the game highlights?”, “What did you like about the game/ disklike?”, are asked and discussed. There is bound to be excitement from the game, so an open discussion is best for this part of the lesson, but make sure that the students settle down before the beginning of the next lesson, or make sure that this lesson is used at the end of day.