another long day

Our first lesson of the day was on phonetic symbols for vowels. It was a difficult class for those of us who are American because it was based in English vowels. Then we had a lesson on the past tenses-- simple and continuous. We went to the usual place for lunch. We go there EVERY DAY.
After lunch, I worked on my lesson plan. It was for beginners on the sea and water sports with reading about wet suits. After my class, I felt pretty good about it. I watched Stephanie's class and then we both had a shared feedback session. Erwin had all negative things to say about my lesson, especially that I talked to much- in directions and in general. He reiterated it and reiterated it. I almost wanted to cry! It's very hard for me to see adults as beginners. I don't feel like I can baby them like I did the little kids in Korea, but I need to learn to do it. At the end, he said it was a good lesson, but I thought that was completely inconsistent with his critique. I was still rather upset.
Earlier in the day, I'd used Erwin's phone to text Rosa that I'd rather meet on Friday than Monday. I wasn't sure I could get a great lesson ready by then. I mentioned that I had started my writeup on the first part and Erwin said he thought I was the furthest ahead on the project. I felt great about that.
After class, Mikaela, Steph and I went to look for a police station to report Steph's stolen wallet. The station was very stark with big black doors on the sides and a desk on the far wall. The people there were intimidating and didn't smile. To their left, there was a translator. We told him about the situation and he gave us the appropriate form and told Steph she'd have to wait a while. We watched as various people came in and out. Lots of the people with badges were in regular clothes and had guns that were clearly displayed. It was taking forever so Mikaela and I went to look at some shops. We went back to find Steph and she STILL hadn't been helped. It was going on 9 so we left her to look for dinner. We went to a place called La Poma. I had cantelloni au gratin. It turned out to have lots of meat inside which I wasn't expecting, but I was just glad to have something to eat! Then we went home. I considered doing some work but didn't have the energy. Hopefully tomorrow will look better.