Bye Bye Teacher!

This past week was my final week at CEIP Blas Infante in La Gangosa!  I can't believe it.  The time absolutely flew by.  I can still remember my first day there like it was yesterday.  This week was absolutely full of love.  On Monday, instead of class, my teacher had her entire class of first graders make pictures for me.  Some of the pictures had things such as "Vay vay teacher" (the student's attempt to write bye bye), "I love you teacher!" along with adorable pictures.  Side note: I consider myself brunette, but here in Spain everyone considers me blonde; so when my students drew pictures of me they drew me with yellow hair! What a change in perspective.  Anyway, soon enough word spread around the students that it was my last week and I was greeted with even more hugs and smiles than usual everyday.  It made it even harder to say goodbye.
Also, since it was my last week, I wanted to thank all of the teachers from the school.  I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies and they all LOVED THEM!  They don't have anything really like that here.  They were all begging for the recipe so I rewrote it in Spanish and made a bunch of copies.  It made me happy that they loved them so much :)  I've been making them for my private lesson families too, and they've also been a hit.  Who knew chocolate chip cookies could be such a cultural thing?

Me with one of my six classes (3rd Grade)

Anyway, yesterday, on Thursday, I said my final goodbyes.  Gave all 3 of my co-teachers letters thanking them for their support throughout the years, and made sure I visited each of my six classes before I left.  I received giant group hugs in every single one! Have you ever been simultaneously hugged by 25 6-year-olds at once? They're combined force nearly knocked me over! I thought the funniest things is that my trouble-making kids that I thought didn't particularly like me were the ones giving me the biggest hugs and saying "bye bye teacher!" "don't go teacher!" It was sad to say goodbye but I couldn't have left on a better note! So many hugs and kisses; it's nice to feel loved :)
So, now I'm down to my last six days in Spain!  I plan on spending my time finishing up my private lessons, packing up and spending as much time as possible at the beach with my friends. It's going to be a bittersweet week!