So..before I get ready to go on vacation and recieve my family here in Madrid, I thought I should reflect a little bit on the year so far. Overall, its certainly been a great experience (as though of you who have been following my blog can certainly tell), but I still have some resolutions for the coming year...ways to make my experience even more worthwhile. With respect to my job- I think I'm trying really hard and teaching the kids pretty well, but I feel like maybe I could get through to them more, maybe find a way to convince them that they should care more about school.
The thing that I find most frustrating is that so many of the kids are so smart but just don't realize their full potential. Now, I know that this complaint has probably been around ever since teaching started as a profession...and I know that it certainly crosses cultural boundaries. Sooo...given that this is such a widespread problem, I know it's not realistic to think that it's one that I can solve in just a few months. Nevertheless, I've been thinking about this issue a lot lately, and I hope I can find some new, innovative ways to get through to the kids, to get them more excited about learning, during the next semester.
As far as my non-work life, I feel like I've done a good job integrating myself into Spanish culture. While I do hang out with a few American friends pretty often, I also am with Spaniards all the time, and I spend most of my time outside of school speaking Spanish. That being said, I think I want to try to take fuller advantage of all that Madrid has to offer culturally and artistically. In the past few weeks, I've been to an art museum, a poetry reading, and a photography exhibit, reminding me just how much I love art and culture...and how much Madrid has to offer in these arenas. I want to try to go to more events like this next year! I also think this will be easier now that Im really settled into my life and routine here.
And while part of my resolution is to become more connected to Madrid and more involved here and now, I also want to make an effor to be better connected with everyone back home. I have recently spoken with many friends from home, and I realize how happy it makes me to catch up with them, especially after we haven't spoken for a long time. I know its really hard to stay in touch, given the time difference and everyone's busy schedules, but I know I can also make more of an effort.
Anywayy..those are the three things I can think of for now. And as far as the immediate future- I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and having some time off to spend travelling with them. Next time I write, it will probably be 2011! So happy holidays and happy New Year everyone :)
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
¿Hablas español?
So, I know I just wrote an entry the other day, but I felt compelled to write another one, because I realized that there is one topic that I've been meaning to write about for weeks now. I continue to be amazed at how many people do not believe that I speak Spanish as well as I do...somehow they think that being American and speaking Spanish fluently is incompatible (unless you are Latino of course!) I'm not saying that all Spaniards believe in this stereotype, of course not...but I've gotten it a lot, and its started to make me think.
So- this amazement comes in two forms: there are the people who I meet while I'm out, friends of friends etc...and then there are my students. Every time I meet someone new, he or she is, without exception, impressed with my Spanish. Now...I'm not trying to say this to brag; I mean, of course I'm proud that Spaniards think I speak well, but I also know that after so many years of studying and practice, and for someone who is genuinely interested in the language, I SHOULD speak fluently by now.
But for whatever reason, people don't seem to understand that we have some really great Spanish programs in US high schools and colleges. When I tell people I've only been living here 3.5 months, they all say "but how is it possible that you speak like that after 3.5 months? I simply don't understand this question...my response is always.."of course i've been studying the langauge for years!! Learning a language isn't magic- of course I don't speak this way just by living here for 3.5 months. It took lots of hard work and the desire to learn" In my opinion, that is how you have to learn!
I don't know, maybe a lot of people here are just really unhappy with the way English is taught (I have heard that from a lot of people) and don't believe that you can really learn to speak the language in school (of course, they didn't have the luxury of being in a bilingual program like the one I teach in, with Fulbright teaching assistants!! haha).
Of course, my practical experience living in Spanish-speaking countries has helped me enormously, but still...I would be nowhere near as comfortable with the language without the extensive academic base that I have from hs and college.
And---then there is the topic of my students. This I just find funny...of course, I'm not supposed to be speaking Spanish with my students, because the whole point of my position is to get them to speak in English as much as possible. However, when I first met them, I told them all that I speak Spanish, that I've lived in Spain before, that I love the language, that I studied it in college etc etc.
Well, either none of them were listening, or they have short-term memories, because they always seem to be amazed when they "discover" that I understand and speak Spanish. Of course, this makes even less sense to me because, even though I techincally am not supposed to use any Spanish at school, I end up doing a lot of translating for both the teachers and the kids all the time. And..the kids ask me for translations...and I give them to them...yet they still don't know that I speak Spanish!
I just find this hilarious- I think they have just identified me completely with English, and even if its obvious that I speak Spanish, some of them keep forgetting that. Now, I guess that's not necessarily bad, because of course, I do want them to speak to me in English so that they can improve and become more comfortable with their language skills. And they are SUPPOSED to identify me with English...so, I'm not necessarily complaining, just reflecting I suppose.....
Anyway, I suppose thats enough reflecting for now. Feel free to provide your thoughts :)
So- this amazement comes in two forms: there are the people who I meet while I'm out, friends of friends etc...and then there are my students. Every time I meet someone new, he or she is, without exception, impressed with my Spanish. Now...I'm not trying to say this to brag; I mean, of course I'm proud that Spaniards think I speak well, but I also know that after so many years of studying and practice, and for someone who is genuinely interested in the language, I SHOULD speak fluently by now.
But for whatever reason, people don't seem to understand that we have some really great Spanish programs in US high schools and colleges. When I tell people I've only been living here 3.5 months, they all say "but how is it possible that you speak like that after 3.5 months? I simply don't understand this question...my response is always.."of course i've been studying the langauge for years!! Learning a language isn't magic- of course I don't speak this way just by living here for 3.5 months. It took lots of hard work and the desire to learn" In my opinion, that is how you have to learn!
I don't know, maybe a lot of people here are just really unhappy with the way English is taught (I have heard that from a lot of people) and don't believe that you can really learn to speak the language in school (of course, they didn't have the luxury of being in a bilingual program like the one I teach in, with Fulbright teaching assistants!! haha).
Of course, my practical experience living in Spanish-speaking countries has helped me enormously, but still...I would be nowhere near as comfortable with the language without the extensive academic base that I have from hs and college.
And---then there is the topic of my students. This I just find funny...of course, I'm not supposed to be speaking Spanish with my students, because the whole point of my position is to get them to speak in English as much as possible. However, when I first met them, I told them all that I speak Spanish, that I've lived in Spain before, that I love the language, that I studied it in college etc etc.
Well, either none of them were listening, or they have short-term memories, because they always seem to be amazed when they "discover" that I understand and speak Spanish. Of course, this makes even less sense to me because, even though I techincally am not supposed to use any Spanish at school, I end up doing a lot of translating for both the teachers and the kids all the time. And..the kids ask me for translations...and I give them to them...yet they still don't know that I speak Spanish!
I just find this hilarious- I think they have just identified me completely with English, and even if its obvious that I speak Spanish, some of them keep forgetting that. Now, I guess that's not necessarily bad, because of course, I do want them to speak to me in English so that they can improve and become more comfortable with their language skills. And they are SUPPOSED to identify me with English...so, I'm not necessarily complaining, just reflecting I suppose.....
Anyway, I suppose thats enough reflecting for now. Feel free to provide your thoughts :)
Monday, December 13, 2010
December in Madrid
Well..it's certainly that time of year- its a few weeks before winter break and everyone is getting restless and excited for the holiday. Madrid is pretty this time of year, with all the Christmas displays and lights- its certainly quite festive. I certainly prefer the springtime when its warm and sunny, but there's definitely something beautiful about all the festive, winter decorations. Its pretty hard for me to believe that two years ago, when I was studying abroad, I would already be going home by now (actually, it was exactly 2 years ago, on December 13th, that I left Spain and returned to the US- WOW). On the one hand, I feel like I've been here a long time- i feel quite settled into my life here and it more or less feels like home. At the same time though, I can't believe I've already lived here for three and a half months (AND that i still have six more months!)
This whole experience is still a bit unreal- its like having two different lives at the same time. On the one hand, I'm still the same person here that I am back home and of course, I still talk to my family and friends back in the States. At the same time, I feel like the life I have here is so different from my life back home, like this year is just some strange pause from "real" life....it's a strange feeling for sure, one that I'm having trouble expressing (as is probably obvious right about now). Anyway...thats probably enough philosiphizing for now- on to other things...
School has been pretty busy lately. Our Global Classrooms project is taking up a lot of my time, now that we have our topics and countries, we have been working with the students a lot to begin to teach them about the topics. We were given two topics to work with (Children in Armed Conflicts and Trafficking of Wild Animals), so some students will be debating one, and some will be debating the other.
I have also had to do my first round of actual evaluations, which is rather tough! On the one hand, I don't want to be too easy on the kids, because I want to show some of the slackers that they are only going to earn the grades that they deserve. Also, I want to kids to know that I DO in fact have some real authority, because sometimes they tend to forget that! At the same time, I feel bad being really harsh (the Spanish grading system is different than the one in the US; there is much less grade inflation, so really low grades are much more common). Anyway, I'm trying hard to find a good balance, as always...
This past weekend, although I did have a bunch of work to do, I also had a chance to enjoy many of the fun things that Madrid has to offer. I had a REAL Spanish weekend experience, and went out every night! (which takes quite a lot of stamina, when you stay out soooo late, I've come to realize...)
Each night I spent time with a different group of friends, which was really nice (my Fulbright friends, Ruth and my Spanish friends, and some new friends!) The new friends included a girl that Kelly and I met in Sevilla...she lives here in Madrid and invited us out with her and her friends. Even though I already have a nice group of friends here, its always nice to meet new people and find new things to do. I hope we will hang out with them again- they were all really nice. Actually, some of them are poets of sorts and invited Kelly and I to a poetry recitation (I guess like a poetry slam?) that they are participating in tonight. So, we are planning to go; I figured-its something different to try out.
I also finally made it to the Prado Museum this weekend (for the first time!) For those of you who don't know, the Prado is one of the biggest, most famous museums in Madrid, kind of the equivalent of the Louvre in Paris or the Met in NY. I had been meaning to go for weeks now and finally got around to it! It was really fun- saw a lot of the Spanish greats (Velazquez, El Greco, Ribera, Goya etc) and also lots of other 16th-19th century art. There was also a special exhibit on Renoir, who is one of my all-time favorite artists, so I especially enjoyed that. We also had a nice warm spell this weekend, so it was nice to be able to walk outside a little less bundled up than I am used to.
I can't believe i only have two more weeks before winter break (and before my family comes to vist!) I can't wait!! These will be a busy two weeks but after that, two whole weeks of vacation to look forward to!! Wooo :)
This whole experience is still a bit unreal- its like having two different lives at the same time. On the one hand, I'm still the same person here that I am back home and of course, I still talk to my family and friends back in the States. At the same time, I feel like the life I have here is so different from my life back home, like this year is just some strange pause from "real" life....it's a strange feeling for sure, one that I'm having trouble expressing (as is probably obvious right about now). Anyway...thats probably enough philosiphizing for now- on to other things...
School has been pretty busy lately. Our Global Classrooms project is taking up a lot of my time, now that we have our topics and countries, we have been working with the students a lot to begin to teach them about the topics. We were given two topics to work with (Children in Armed Conflicts and Trafficking of Wild Animals), so some students will be debating one, and some will be debating the other.
I have also had to do my first round of actual evaluations, which is rather tough! On the one hand, I don't want to be too easy on the kids, because I want to show some of the slackers that they are only going to earn the grades that they deserve. Also, I want to kids to know that I DO in fact have some real authority, because sometimes they tend to forget that! At the same time, I feel bad being really harsh (the Spanish grading system is different than the one in the US; there is much less grade inflation, so really low grades are much more common). Anyway, I'm trying hard to find a good balance, as always...
This past weekend, although I did have a bunch of work to do, I also had a chance to enjoy many of the fun things that Madrid has to offer. I had a REAL Spanish weekend experience, and went out every night! (which takes quite a lot of stamina, when you stay out soooo late, I've come to realize...)
Each night I spent time with a different group of friends, which was really nice (my Fulbright friends, Ruth and my Spanish friends, and some new friends!) The new friends included a girl that Kelly and I met in Sevilla...she lives here in Madrid and invited us out with her and her friends. Even though I already have a nice group of friends here, its always nice to meet new people and find new things to do. I hope we will hang out with them again- they were all really nice. Actually, some of them are poets of sorts and invited Kelly and I to a poetry recitation (I guess like a poetry slam?) that they are participating in tonight. So, we are planning to go; I figured-its something different to try out.
I also finally made it to the Prado Museum this weekend (for the first time!) For those of you who don't know, the Prado is one of the biggest, most famous museums in Madrid, kind of the equivalent of the Louvre in Paris or the Met in NY. I had been meaning to go for weeks now and finally got around to it! It was really fun- saw a lot of the Spanish greats (Velazquez, El Greco, Ribera, Goya etc) and also lots of other 16th-19th century art. There was also a special exhibit on Renoir, who is one of my all-time favorite artists, so I especially enjoyed that. We also had a nice warm spell this weekend, so it was nice to be able to walk outside a little less bundled up than I am used to.
I can't believe i only have two more weeks before winter break (and before my family comes to vist!) I can't wait!! These will be a busy two weeks but after that, two whole weeks of vacation to look forward to!! Wooo :)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
La vuelta a Sevilla! (The return to Sevilla)
This past weekend (well, fri-tues am, since we had yet another holiday here in Spain!), my friend Kelly and I went to Sevilla. It was my first time back since I had studied abroad there two years ago, so it was a really special trip for me. We had a wonderful time, really got to enjoy everything great about the city and it made me really happy to be back in what i consider to be a home away from home.
On Friday, we had great sunny weather (much warmer than Madrid) and we spent the day just walking around the city, seeing all the main sites. We were staying in a hostel right by the Cathedral, so we were in a great location. We walked all through the center of the city-by the cathedral, the university, avenida de la Constiutucion, Plaza Nueva, Calle Sierpes etc. We had chocoloate and churros in the morning and a nice menu del dia for lunch. We walked around Plaza de Espana and then walked along the river, taking beautiful pictures of the sunset. We crossed the bridge into Triana and saw all the Christmas lights and then walked back towards the cathedral and found a nice place to get some tapas for dinner. At night, our hostel had arranged a pub crawl and we went to several different bars and a discoteca with a whole bunch of people from our hostel and other nearby hostels. It was really fun to experience the Sevilla nightlife once again, and to meet travellers from all over the world- we talked with other Americans, as well as people from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Scotland, England, Denmark, the Netherlands etc....it was a really great day!!
Saturday we toured the cathedral and climbed the Giralda (the big tower) and got a beautiful view of the city. We had another great Spanish-style lunch and then took a walk down memory lane...the walk from the center of the city to Julia's apartment (Julia was my host mom in Sevilla two years ago)!! It was very nostalgic to repeat that walk that I did every single weekday while i was living in Sevilla..and in the end, I remembered it perfectly! It felt like such a familiar path, even though it had been two years since i had been there! We ended up spending 2.5 hours with Julia- which was great! We talked about basically everything under the sun...caught up on our lives and shared lots of laughs. I also got to see Julia's daughter, son-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law, which was really nice. It was so great to see her again and she was just as sweet as always!!
The great night continued as we went back to the hostel and headed to a flamenco show arranged by the hostel staff. The show was awesome-the dancers and musicians were amazingly talented!!
On Sunday, the weather changed for the worse and it basically rained all day. So, we decided to go to the contemporary art museum in the morning...seemed like a good rainy day activity. We had mixed feelings about the museum-it was full of strange videos (very contemporary), which aren't really my style, but there were also some really cool and interesting pieces. We found another great place to have lunch after the museum, and then just walked around and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We decided to go out that night with the people from the hostel again, since it was so fun the other night, and since it provided us with a guide to show us the best places to go!! We met lots of interesting people and it was another great night!
Monday was another really fun day...we spent a very typical Spanish afternoon with 2 Sevillanos, which was great. Kelly's aunt used to live in Spain and still has some very close friends here. One of her closest friends is from Sevilla...and so we met up with him and his friend for the afternoon. We went to the Archivo de las Indias and saw a cool exhibit on pirates in Spanish America (back during colonial times) and then proceeded to have a long afternoon full of drinks and food. We first went to a typical outdoor bar, which was full of people chatting and enjoying their day off. Then we went to another place with great tapas...also quite crowded! The afternoon continued as we sipped some cafe in another bar..and then continued even longer as we had some post-coffee drinks (apparently thats very typical!) It was really fun to just have a relaxing afternoon, chatting and enjoying ourselves. That night, we relaxed a bit at the hostel, hanging out with some of our new friends, enjoyed some more great food, and went out for a bit with some of the other hostel guests.
And finally, tues am, we woke up bright and early and caught the train back to Madrid. It was SUCH a great trip; I'm soo glad we decided to go! And who knows..maybe i'll be back again soon..after all, its not too far away!!!
On Friday, we had great sunny weather (much warmer than Madrid) and we spent the day just walking around the city, seeing all the main sites. We were staying in a hostel right by the Cathedral, so we were in a great location. We walked all through the center of the city-by the cathedral, the university, avenida de la Constiutucion, Plaza Nueva, Calle Sierpes etc. We had chocoloate and churros in the morning and a nice menu del dia for lunch. We walked around Plaza de Espana and then walked along the river, taking beautiful pictures of the sunset. We crossed the bridge into Triana and saw all the Christmas lights and then walked back towards the cathedral and found a nice place to get some tapas for dinner. At night, our hostel had arranged a pub crawl and we went to several different bars and a discoteca with a whole bunch of people from our hostel and other nearby hostels. It was really fun to experience the Sevilla nightlife once again, and to meet travellers from all over the world- we talked with other Americans, as well as people from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Scotland, England, Denmark, the Netherlands etc....it was a really great day!!
Saturday we toured the cathedral and climbed the Giralda (the big tower) and got a beautiful view of the city. We had another great Spanish-style lunch and then took a walk down memory lane...the walk from the center of the city to Julia's apartment (Julia was my host mom in Sevilla two years ago)!! It was very nostalgic to repeat that walk that I did every single weekday while i was living in Sevilla..and in the end, I remembered it perfectly! It felt like such a familiar path, even though it had been two years since i had been there! We ended up spending 2.5 hours with Julia- which was great! We talked about basically everything under the sun...caught up on our lives and shared lots of laughs. I also got to see Julia's daughter, son-in-law, sister, and brother-in-law, which was really nice. It was so great to see her again and she was just as sweet as always!!
The great night continued as we went back to the hostel and headed to a flamenco show arranged by the hostel staff. The show was awesome-the dancers and musicians were amazingly talented!!
On Sunday, the weather changed for the worse and it basically rained all day. So, we decided to go to the contemporary art museum in the morning...seemed like a good rainy day activity. We had mixed feelings about the museum-it was full of strange videos (very contemporary), which aren't really my style, but there were also some really cool and interesting pieces. We found another great place to have lunch after the museum, and then just walked around and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. We decided to go out that night with the people from the hostel again, since it was so fun the other night, and since it provided us with a guide to show us the best places to go!! We met lots of interesting people and it was another great night!
Monday was another really fun day...we spent a very typical Spanish afternoon with 2 Sevillanos, which was great. Kelly's aunt used to live in Spain and still has some very close friends here. One of her closest friends is from Sevilla...and so we met up with him and his friend for the afternoon. We went to the Archivo de las Indias and saw a cool exhibit on pirates in Spanish America (back during colonial times) and then proceeded to have a long afternoon full of drinks and food. We first went to a typical outdoor bar, which was full of people chatting and enjoying their day off. Then we went to another place with great tapas...also quite crowded! The afternoon continued as we sipped some cafe in another bar..and then continued even longer as we had some post-coffee drinks (apparently thats very typical!) It was really fun to just have a relaxing afternoon, chatting and enjoying ourselves. That night, we relaxed a bit at the hostel, hanging out with some of our new friends, enjoyed some more great food, and went out for a bit with some of the other hostel guests.
And finally, tues am, we woke up bright and early and caught the train back to Madrid. It was SUCH a great trip; I'm soo glad we decided to go! And who knows..maybe i'll be back again soon..after all, its not too far away!!!
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