Another long month since the last proper update: I apologize for the delay! Things have been going great in Madrid and, of course, time is flying.
Tl;dr Abstract: hike; new classes; roundtable discussion of bilingualism... gone wrong (the discussion, I mean); running some 10ks; Thanksgiving fun; Founder's Day at SAFA; teaching miscellanea; Barcelona travels.
And now, delivered in the gritty, hard-hitting style you've come to expect, here are the highlights most worth sharing...
· A fantastic hike with Eric, Ellen, Neal, Kristie and Caitlin. We took a bus up to Manzanares el Real, a small town about an hour north of Madrid known for its rock climbing. From there our trail headed north out of town up a river's route, before splitting off and climbing up to a pretty spectacular saddle overlooking the plains on both sides of the Sierra de Gaudarrama range. Gorgeous fall day, warm pine-scented wind; companionable mule trail-side. What more can you ask for?
· The conclusion of our first quarter of Masters classes and the beginning of the second. Everyone (I included) freaked out and crammed for the art history test, but in the end both classes were pretty manageable finals-wise. Q2 classes are off to a great start: "Spanish for Heritage Learners" explore the unique challenges involved in teaching Spanish to kids who already have a cultural/familial connection to the language, and "Contemporary Spanish History" - an unironic title - investigates the contemporary history of Spain.
· A heinous "round-table discussion" convened as part of Madrid's "Science Week 2010." Although the theme of the discussion was ostensibly to be bilingual education, and although plenty of non-Masters folks showed up to listen, the event degenerated into two straight hours of colleagues complaining about their experience abroad. It was literally embarrassing. Not that the complaints weren't often valid - e.g. petitioning for better communication with fellow teachers - but I think a lot of people totally misunderstood the point of the round table. Madrid: on the behalf of the Universidad de Alcalá, I hereby do formally apologize for ruining one of your science week events.
· Perhaps the most thrilling highlight of the last month was the discovery on the C/ General Lacy curb of a discarded wooden desk that I, a modern-day Columbus, have now claimed as my own. It doesn't wobble, it's big enough for computer + books + coffee: it's great!
· To the confusion/disgust of Willamette Cycling, OREC, and my own self-regard, I have started running a bit. I have no bike here and what's more, living in the dead center of one of the busiest cities in Europe, there's nowhere nice to ride; therefore running is the best temporary replacement. I promise that it's short-term and that my intentions are pure: I only want to stay in reasonable shape so that I can resume cycling more readily when the time comes. Calm down people, it's not as bad as it looks. Mea culpa out of the way, I further admit to running two 10ks in the last few weeks, one of which was the "MARCA Carrera de los Aficiones," an event pitting the fan base of Real Madrid vs. the fan base of Atlético de Madrid. Underdogs all, we ran in support of the populist Atleti "colchoneros," and - here swallowing my bike-racing pride - the race was awesome.
· Thanksgiving in Alcalá de Henares was a lot of fun. Two thanksgivings were a lot of fun, in fact: one at Eric's apartment, and another, later in the evening, as guests of new friends Alberto and Vidal. It was good to eat some classic American food, and both events manifested the true community spirit of the holiday.
· The following day (Friday) was the "Founder's Day" party at SAFA, a wonderful event. First of all, it meant a day off teaching (marred only by an appointment at the Oficina de Extranjerías to get a full residence card); even better, it meant a multi-course meal at school that night with the rest of the teachers. The meal turned into a veritable international summit of slang language usage, and I can honestly say that I learned more rowdy/uncouth Spanish there than I have in the last three months. A major success!
· Teaching in general has been going better and better. The bachillerato (high-school equivalent) kids especially are super smart, and their questions tend to vary between extremes: either "Profe, have you ever smoked weed?" or "Profe, what exactly was the relationship between the Cold War and the Vietnam War?" Most recently we read an excerpt from David Foster Wallace's "E Unibus Plurum"* (denouncing the cultural dominance of irony as a "dead end" that can only critique, not mean anything) alongside that classic Onion article New Bill Would Protect Marriage From Sharks, a text that (I submit) uses irony in a very non-dead-end way. Next two weeks: a discussion of "PC language" in which (once again) DFW's critique** of that rhetorical mode - that it not only distracts us from hard cultural questions with the easier question of their labels, but also invariably supports the status quo - will be contrasted with a brief etymology of certain slurs that people legitimately should not say.*** I'm plotting to get ahold of Zinn's People's History of the United States and a photocopier and turn much of the bachillerato spring semester into a US-Contemporary-History-type class: Civil War, Reconstruction/Jim Crow, Great Depression, WWI/II, Red Scare, civil rights movements(s), historical role of newspapers/press, etc. In conclusion, teaching is going awesomely, especially with the older kids.
· Last highlight: a great trip to Barcelona with Ellen, Eric, Kelly, Syd, Jenn, and Gaby for the December puente long weekend. We headed out on Saturday and flew back in to Madrid yesterday. The original plan was to fly both ways, but a nation-wide air traffic controller strike shut down all Spanish airspace on Saturday. We ended up taking a rude nine-hour bus ride to Barcelona... but not before Sydney was interviewed live by CNN's Spain correspondent from the Barajas airport! That damn bus ride pretty much killed Saturday, but Sunday was awesome: lots of strolling around Barça (esp. the Barceloneta & Ramblas areas), lots of time at Gaudí's spectacularly cool Sagrada Familia basílica, a visit to the downright festive Christmas market, and flavorful tapas. And Sunday was even better: Eric, "Killah Kelly," Kelly's friend from home and I went to the Monstserrat monastery in the mountains inland from Barça, a small village & basilica carved from a sheer cliff face. We heard the boys' choir sing (standing-room-only), spent lots of time gazing downwards in astonishment, and hiked up to the Cruz de San Miguel and points beyond. The icing on the cake was coming "home" to find a delicious meal already prepared, a meal that was, appropriately, accompanied by Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona (sp?). We strolled the Gothic quarter once more before bidding a fond farewell to Barça and flying home the next morning.
Ed.- I must here take my stand w/r/t the perennial Madrid vs. Barcelona debate. Maybe it's my madrileño pride (or familiarity) talking, but I have to pick Madrid as my personal favorite at the end of the day. Barça's seaside location is obviously way better, but there's just a friendly energy to downtown Madrid that I prefer. That said, Madrid's "energy" didn't help them much last week when FC Barcelona savaged Real Madrid 5-0 in the Clásico game: ¡Tomaaaa!
Well, there are only about two weeks left before winter break starts. Emily flies in on the 19th and will be here until 9 January: we're planning a trip to see one Lindsey Arrington in France, as well as day trips and maybe a longer adventure within Spain. I can't wait! So the holidays are nearly here, and as they say the interim is pan comido: literally "eaten bread," metaphorically "as good as completed."
Happy holidays, and thanks for reading!
-Dave
8 December 2010
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*From A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
**From "Authority and American Usage," Consider the Lobster. In answer to your astonishment at the English proficiency of these kids, I do tend to go through the excerpts/articles and replace the biggest words with simpler equivalents. At any rate, their (the kids') English is impressive.
***Everyone already hears f---, s---, c---, n----- etc. etc. in all the popular rap songs - I'm starting to sound like a curmudgeon - so it's not like the slurs are new vocabulary: the problem is that Spanish 17-yr-olds quite naturally don't understand all the baggage that goes along with saying those words, and that stuff is for sure worth teaching.
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