“Los Pitufos”

Somehow, after almost two months here, I still only have one – yes, one – photo of Castilleja de la Cuesta, the town I currently call home. Nevertheless, I did make a point of taking a few photos of one of the two centers I’m teaching English in. This one is called “Los Pitufos” (literally, The Smurfs, and it actually has its own billboard adorned with smurfs), and it’s located in Sanlúcar la Mayor, a small village about 25 minutes west of Castilleja. During the morning hours, “Los Pitufos” is a daycare center and preschool, while converting to an English academy in the afternoons. If my classroom seems especially infantile, it is for this reason, and none other — my own three classes here are comprised of 5th graders, 6th graders, and 10th graders. I didn’t take any photos of the students themselves because I’m just not sure whether or not there’s a policy on that here, and who cares what they look like anyways, right? I’ll soon take photos of the other English academy (I say other but they are all part of the same umbrella organization), and maybe if you’re lucky I’ll peel myself away from the endless European soccer articles and highlight reels that compromise an unreasonable amount of my free time and take some photos of Castilleja. For now, though, enjoy the photos of my workspace in Smurfland.

5 minutes until my first class begins

A view through my classroom door into the building's interior patio

Not as breathtaking as the patios in Córdoba, yet much more practical

Behind my classroom. The colored fence is part of any childhood.

Unused chairs outside "Los Pitufos"

~ by lincolnbrody on October 19, 2009.