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I look forward to meeting many of you during our work together with your wonderful kids this year, but here are a few extra bits of information I believe you might like to know about me.
I am a native of Madrid (Spain) and I have been in the U.S. for the last 14 years. I have been living in Kirkland since 1997, and I consider this area my home. I have been married for 13 years and I have two wonderful boys. Miguel is in eighth grade at Rose Hill Jr. High and Mario is in sixth grade at Mark Twain Elementary.
I was raised in Spain where my parents were the best example of how to be a good person and enjoy the very simple things in life. I have two older sisters; one lives in Spain and the other lives in Kirkland. I attended school in Madrid and completed my college education in Valencia, by the Mediterranean coast of Spain. I have always enjoyed two-month vacations with my family in the summer by the beach and thanks to those opportunities I became fluent in French when I was very young. Because I moved to Valencia to go to college, I learned another language spoken in Spain called Catalan (I even taught it). During my high school and college years I had many different kinds of jobs: nanny, restaurant dish washer, ironed clothes, sold suitcases and handbags, and tutored kids in different languages. I graduated from the University of Valencia in psychology and then entered the educational psychology master's program at the same university. While I was a very average student during all my school years (I’ve struggled with math and physics), in high school I received an award for being the best student in that master's program! I was awarded some money which was immediately spent on a trip to visit my sister in London. I started working as a psychologist in Spain. Most of my clients were parents and their very young kids. I used to do home visits and move around the city on my motorcycle.
When I was 30 years old, I came to the States to visit my sister (the same sister who was in London) and I met a fabulous and great guy (now my husband Nelson). I decided to move to the United States and start my family here. So I had to start learning English and I knew it was going to take some time. So in the meantime, I had two boys and we all learned the language together. I went back to school to get another master's in education, this time in school counseling. It was a challenge. I learned to speak English in my thirties and then learned to write it in my forties. So if I make a few mistakes, I usually forgive myself very easily. In the spring of 2006, I received a job at Lakeview Elementary, and now I have moved to Helen Keller.
When I’m not working, I like cooking for family and good friends, photographing flowers or people I love, talking on the phone with my sisters and parents, and watching Survivor and The Amazing Race with my kids and husband. I love to travel in the summer and I always have a few home improvement projects in mind.
If you see me around the neighborhood, please stop and say hi. Otherwise, see you all at school.