Buenas días, Irene!

How are you doing? Hope everything’s going well with you… right now I’m really excited because our school is going on Spring Break in just a few days! Finally- some time to relax!

Anyway, although I will not be in town next week (my family’s going to Las Vegas- our typical vacation spot), it might be nice to give you a brief description of the city where I live. I live in a small town called Hillsborough, which stands between the cities of San Mateo and Burlingame. All of these cities are considered in the suburbs of the Bay Area, with San Francisco being a short 20 minute drive away. With Aragon being located in San Mateo and many Hillsborough kids hanging out in Burlingame (our old middle school, Crocker, is a short walk to Burlingame Avenue, a popular hang out spot for Burlingame kids), I feel that I have had the best of both worlds. While the shopping and overall calm atmosphere of Burlingame is nice, there is always something to do in Downtown San Mateo (where most Aragon kids hang out at).

At the same time, because most of my extended family lives in San Francisco (my parents were born in San Francisco and our family is one of the few that have moved out to the suburbs), our family frequently goes to the city for family gatherings, doctor’s appointments, dentist appointments, and all that other fun stuff. Although I can’t say I fully appreciate the prime location that I live in, I’m sure that when I come back to visit my hometown from college next year, I will see the true beauty of the Bay Area.

With this, it would be great to hear more about your hometown. What special attractions does your city have? Maybe I can visit your city if I ever travel to Spain…

Thanks! Talk to you soon!

-Ashleigh

Hi, Irene!

I enjoyed reading your blogs on the aragonapspanish website and this one. I truly think it’s great that you’re so actively involved in kids’ lives; I mean, while being a teacher is a huge job in itself, the fact that you teach these children while entrusting them with loud, noise-making instruments shows a lot of patience and tolerance on your part (admittedly, I wasn’t such a good flute student when I started out with my elementary school music teacher). I admire that. Also, I appreciate the pictures you have sent a few times to this website. One of these days I’ll have to send you a picture- of what, I have no idea at the moment. Haha

Anyway, with you being a music teacher and a member of a large and supportive family, I hope I’m not assuming too much by saying that you seem to be interested in music and in interacting with kids. (I would love to hear more about your nephew, Ruben, by the way.) And it’s in this case that I think we are similar. I have been playing the flute for about eight years and piano for about nine years, and though I never used to enjoy playing either all that much (I would often participate in music competitions for the flute and piano, and would subsequently become really stressed out during practices) after stopping private lessons earlier this year, only now do I truly appreciate the creativity and beauty that music brings. In addition, one of my biggest and most long-term hobbies has been interviewing and communicating with people (an odd hobby, I know). According to my mom, when I was four years-old I used to carry around this little cassette tape player with the microphone in one hand and the machine in the other. Apparently thinking that I was a reporter, I used to randomly approach people, asking them various questions and letting them speak into the microphone; lucky for both my “interviewees” and myself, I never recorded any of their responses. Nowadays the only interviews I make are for the school newspaper, The Aristocrat, which I am an editor of.

Still, being a teenage girl, it’s not surprising that my other hobbies include going shopping, spending time with friends, and watching movies- I particularly love romantic movies or romantic comedies (much to the dismay of some of my guy friends, who often dub these movies as “chick flicks”). Have you ever watched The Notebook or A Walk to Remember? They may be among the biggest “chick flicks” of all time (which one particular guy friend may attest to), but gosh they’re good!

So much to say, so little time! I look forward to hearing back from you! Take care, Irene.

-Ashleigh

Hi!
I’m a music teacher at a primary school in EL Prat de Llobregat. EL Prat de Loobregat is a city near Barcelona.
My pupils are between three and twelve years old.
My pupils go to the music very happy because we sing, we dance, we listen to music and we go to theatre every year to listen to different auditions. That is very good for children.
I’m very happy with my job because I love children and I have a good time in school.

Hello Ashleig!

My name’s Irene. I’m thirty-eight years old and I live in Barcelona.
I’m a primary teacher. I teach music in El Prat de Llobregat.
I’m a first grade student at the Official Language school in El Prat de Llobregat. I go to class on Thursdays and Tuesdays.
I have got one brother and one sister. They are married.
My sister has got one son. I have got a nephew. He is seven months. I’m very happy because he’s my first nephew.
I like to travel but I do not speak English and meeting English people is very difficult.
At the weekend I like to go to the cinema.
Every month I go to Jaca.

Hey Irene-

How are you? Hope life’s not being too hard/stressful on you. You and I should really try to chat more often…

Anyway, with our common interests primarily lying in babysitting and taking care of kids (and the extremely fun responsibilities that such a job entails), I was wondering if you have any other jobs and/or responsiblities that take up your time.

Although I do not currently hold a job, I can safely say that I have had some work experience over the years. My very first “career” was actually as a full-fledged babysitter, in which I was responsible for taking care of some family friends’ two boys, both of whom were fairly good for the most part. In the mindset of an eleven year-old girl (who desperately wanted to buy the latest Backstreet Boy and/or N*Sync CD), being paid $5 an hour for watching two boys play video games all night really wasn’t so terrible. As I grew older, I began working as a clerk in the gift section of a local community pharmacy in Burlingame (the local rival city next to San Mateo), where I learned how to work behind the register and saw the true importance of organization and cleanliness (because the pharmacy was an older establishment, everything there was always coated in dust, dirt, grime, and other stuff I don’t even want to think about- needless to say, Lysol and Swiffer wipes have been my best friends since then ).

With a few odd jobs under my belt, when I was fifteen I got a summer job as an optometrist’s assistant in Palo Alto (a city not too far from San Mateo), where I spent the next few summers and school breaks working there to start saving up money for college expenses such as books, dorm room and board, and meal plans. The cost of going to college is crazy nowadays- and with my family already giving me so much over the last eighteen years, I hoped to help my parents by paying for at least a small portion of the seemingly endless bill. Anyway, working at the optometrist’s office was an awesome experience because it required me to become a more independent, professional person. In addition to peforming secretarial tasks such as working on the computer, scheduling patient appointments, and interacting with patients on the phone and in person, I also learned how to perform pre-tests on patients (i.e. the glaucoma and field/periferal vision tests) as well as gained some experience in repairing glasses and selling frames to patients who were looking to buy new glasses.

Now that I’m going off to college in the very near future *gasp*, although getting a job is not at the top of my list, it is definitely not out of the question. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens…

It would really be great to learn more about you (I feel so awkward talking about myself so much…), so please send me a message, ok? Hope to talk to you soon!

Hi Irene-

How are things going over there? I haven’t talked to you in awhile… I hope everyting’s okay at your end of the world!

Anyway, reading about you and your family sounds really nice; you seem to be very close to your siblings, and I’m sure you’re having a blast being an aunt for baby Ruben. Do you have to babysit him a lot? What is he like?

Though I myself am not an aunt (I have a brother named Garrett, who just turned 15 and is in no way ready to have any children!), I do come from a large family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. With my parents being one of four siblings on their respective sides, needless to say holiday gatherings are nothing short of fun and exciting. Having grown up with first and second cousins that are around my age, I have always been able to talk to them about anything without the fear of being laughed at (because sometimes I do talk about the randomest things).

However, with my immediate family- which consists of my mom, dad, younger brother, and myself- living out in the suburbs while the rest of my family lives in San Francisco, lately it’s been difficult for us to visit our relatives as frequently as we used to. And with this being my last year before I go off to college, I really have been making more of an effort to get closer to my family. A few months ago my aunt and uncle had a baby boy who they named Carter. He is adorable, and I have had the chance to babysit him a couple of times over the last month. While I am a huge fan of babies and really anything small and cute, I somehow forgot how much these little ones drool during the first few months. Nevertheless, I really should not complain- overall Carter is a very good baby, and I figure that I might as well start developing my maternal instincts, right?

I look forward to hearing back from you!

Hi Irene!

My name’s Ashleigh and I’m a senior at Aragon High School in California. As a newly-certified 18 year-old, unfortunately I haven’t taken full advantage of my adult status. I’m currently waiting to hear the results from the colleges, though lately I’ve been trying to spend more time with family and friends before our class graduates in May. Though I have the same interests as the average teen (i.e. going to the movies, shopping, hanging out with friends), I do enjoy volunteering and helping in the community. I am a member of our county’s Youth Commission, which is made up of youth throughout the county and we work closely with adult officials to help the youth and their families in the community. It’s a lot of fun- recently we went on a fun trip to Great America and I realized my fear of heights while riding some of the rides… not the greatest feeling in the world, but it was still fun!

Anyhow, I look forward to hearing back from you! Thanks!

-Ashleigh

I live with my parents in Barcelona.
I have one brother and one sister.
My brother is forty years old. He’s been married for seven years. He lives in Prat de LLobregat and works in Barcelona.
My sister is thirty years old. She’s married too. She lives in Barcelona, near my parents house.
My sister has one son, Ruben, he’s very cute and very nice. Ruben is ten months.
Every member of the family is very happy with Ruben, he’s a good reason to be happy for our family.