Last Friday, I went with Andrea to see
“Skyfall”, the newest James Bond movie. It was dubbed in Spanish
so I had to pay real close attention the entire time to follow the
plot line. I actually was able to follow a fair amount of the movie.
There were points when I was a bit confused but, overall, it was a
success. Javier Bardem was amazing as the villain!
The grading system in Spain is so
different than it is in the states. Here, the lowest passing grade
is a 50 (out of 100)! At first when we were doing evaluations for
the observed classes of our peers in the TEFL program, I felt odd
putting, say, a “six” for one of the criteria- in the US, that
would be failing!
Last weekend I went to el Museo Reina
Sofia, one of the three famous museums in Madrid (along with the
Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza.) I got there around six and, once
again, the museum entry was free. The museum itself is huge: I got
lost multiple times going through its huge arches and rooms.
“Guernica” by Picasso is housed in the museum as well as various
paintings by Salvador Dahlí. Standing in front of such a famous
painting was incredible; I've seen Guernica in movies and ads as well
as on postcards but seeing it with my own eyes was great.
Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take photos of it, but at the
least I'll have the memory of seeing this beautiful piece of art in
person.
In another room were pictures of
military dictatorships throughout Central and South America and
Spain: Perú, Argentina, Chile, Spain, and a couple others. I was
particularly drawn to this room given that I wrote my thesis on the
desaparecidos (“disappeared ones”) in Argentina during the
military dictatorship. In this exhibit, I saw signs of many of the
topics I wrote about. Most prominent were pictures of the Madres de
Plaza de Mayo holding signs, pictures of their loved one's faces
emblazoned on the surface. In the same room were photos recreating
the repression in all these dictatorships: naked bodies piled on top
of each other in every which way, another of four naked people with
their back towards the photographer, palms against the wall as if the
individuals are being held up. For those who know Spanish and are
interested, here's an article on the exhibit:
The other day, I went to a pub with
Andrea and Andres (flatmates) to meet up with some friends of Andrea.
Some of them were from Spain, others from Portugal, a few from
Mexico. We were chatting in an area towards the back when a man came
in and started talking to all of us. He had this little toy where
you fold it one way and another and it ends up looking exactly like
it did before it was folded at all. I'd never experienced these
solicitations of people selling random stuff in privately owned
restaurants. Rather, it happened all the time in Argentina but this
was the first time I'd seen it in Spain. After he left, everyone
there noted that he was from Argentina! It's weird that I didn't
pick up on the accent, especially given that it's so distinct.
Many of the students I've met through
Andrea are here on an Erasmus scholarship. From what I understand,
Erasmus is a program in all EU countries that sends college students
to other countries within the EU. I suppose it makes sense that such
a program doesn't exist in North America as the majority of the
citizens speak English. In any case, it seems like an amazing way to
gain more intercultural understanding.
Last week, I met with Lawrence, a
friend of a friend back in the USA. At this point, Lawrence has
lived here fourteen years and now works doing translations between
Spanish and English. When we met for coffee, he kept telling me how
there's a better quality of life here. One aspect of Spanish life he
mentioned which I found particularly interesting was Spain's notion
of citizenship. He explained that, if an individual is in the
country for more than... I think it was 5 years, the Spanish
government embraces that individual and will grant him citizenship.
I'm sure it's not quite that simple but that's the gist. Quite
different than immigration reform and the continuous debate
surrounding the issue in the USA, where officials will deport
“illegal aliens”, as it were, in a heartbeat.
There's a famous open-air market every
Sunday called “El Rastro” in La Latina, the neighborhood where my
flat is located. I've gone the past two Sundays with some friends
and it's really cool. Both Sundays we've gotten there towards the
end so the stands were closing up. However, the tostas in this one
particular shop are definitely worth has slipped my mind.
Regardless, the line is always out the door. Although it is a housed
restaurant, it is only open when the Rastro's going on. Tostas are
essentially bread with various toppings: anchovies, brie cheese, jam,
meat, whipped cream, the list goes on. Both times I've gotten a
tosta with brie cheese and homemade jam- SO good! Perhaps I'll
branch out and try something else soon (to be fair, this is made
somewhat harder given I don't eat red meat.)
On Tuesdays, I teach two siblings, one
ten, the other fourteen. The lesson is an hour total, I see each for
half an hour. I make two lesson plans as a four year gap makes quite
the difference in terms of EFL classes. This past Tuesday, while in
the middle of teaching the ten year old brother, his mom came in and
told me that the older sister was speaking with a teacher at school.
Thus, I would be spending the whole hour with Agustín. In the TEFL
course, they taught us to always prepare extra material in case the
lesson goes faster than anticipated. Luckily, I did bring extra
material... but not enough for half an hour! Another tip I got from
the TEFL class was to always “milk” an exercise—approach it
from all angles (speaking, reading, writing, listening) so as to
maximize it's use. Luckily, I was able to fill the 30 minutes.
Last weekend, I went to a discoteca,
the first I've been to here in Spain. The discoteca was called “Joy”
and it was actually pretty cool. It was essentially the same as the
boliches I went to in Argentina: a raised platform with a DJ, huge
crowd on the floor dancing or mingling about, a bar towards the
entrance... Just as in the states, girls got in for free while guys
paid a cover. As in Argentina, much of the music played was pop
songs from the USA.
This past Wednesday there was a huge
paro general not only throughout Spain but in Portugal and Greece as
well (the countries in which the economic crisis is the worst.) The
paro on the metro system about a month ago was nothing compared to
the one yesterday: the majority of shops were closed, metros ran
every half hour and many people were marching at various points
during the day.
I didn't actively march, however I did
see the effects of the manifestaciones afterwards: beside each ATM,
people had written such words as “culpables” (“guilty”) or
“asesinos” (“assassins”). In a particularly powerful piece
of graffiti, someone had drawn a stick figure hanging on a noose. I
also noticed the effects of the demonstrations when riding the metro:
people were should to shoulder. To give you a sense of how packed
it was: usually there's always a rail within reach for people to hold
onto if standing. Yesterday, however, I had to push the palm of my
hand against the roof of the car in order to stabilize myself, since
all the handles were out of reach. I watched the news later that
night and it showed huge crowds of people congregating in an area I
had walked through earlier that afternoon.
A new flatmate moved in earlier this
week. Her name's Maria and she's from California as well- small
world, indeed. She's here on the auxiliares program, an arrangement
between the US government and that of Spain to have native English
speakers from the US come to Spain and help in English classrooms.
She seems really nice and I'm looking forward to getting to know her
better.
At this point, I have taught a total
of 15 hours with my three clients out of the required 20. I have
three lessons next week and then four the next week, so I'll be finished by the end of the month. I'm taking a long weekend next weekend to
visit Granada, Spain. Granada is famous for “La Alhambra”, an
Islamic palace built in the mid-10th century. I'll be
leaving Madrid this coming Thursday (no clients on Friday), returning
Sunday afternoon. No doubt I will have much to say about the palace
upon returning as well as a handful of photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment