De Madrid al Cielo

Before I start recapping the past four weeks of my Madrileno lifestyle, I would like to dedicate this blog entry to my friend Alex (see red-scarved beauty to the right), who reminds me every time we talk (which is approximately 10X a day) that I am a horrible blogger and thus (I fear) an unexciting internet friend/procrastinating tool for her (and others). Alex, are ya happy now? :)

So, starting from about a month ago.....I went to go see La Bella y la bestia (Beauty and the Beast) in Spanish on stage here, which was nothing less than a delight, though the show wasn't nearly as polished as what we are used to in the states. For some reason, I am always busting into songs from Beauty and the Beast here, so hearing the Spanish version was silly and fun all at once. I also went to a birthday party for my friend Javier Duro which was an Arab-themed costume party (he turned 26). While it was fun and interesting to go to a house party in Spain outside of the city (his family has incredible views of the city), it also made me miss my friends from home, because, as lovely as the Spanish is, I came to realize just how special it is being around people who really know you, who have the same cultural references as you, etc. So, friends, know you are missed!

The next weekend brought a wonderful weekend of travelling to Galicia, which is in the Northwest of Spain. My friend Alexandra (Alex) and Nicole and I (see picture) all went first to Santiago de Compostela and then to A Coruna, a coastal town. It was, by far, one of the most enjoyable and memorable trips I have ever taken. It wasn't because we saw the most amazing sights (though we took in some breathtaking views), but more for the company, for the people we met along the way, and for the copious amounts of food we ate at every turn. I don't think I could ever forget Paolo Alexandre, the Angolan-Portuguese Waiter-Actor who gave us a very warm welcome to the city, Maria, the Gallegan student looking for English-speaking friends, the simultaneously creepy and sweet old men we met while we nursed our own pirrons, or the very odd trio made of a brother, sister, and boyfriend who we ran away from at lightning speed. I won't recap more, but if you're interested in more details you can read my friend Nicole's account here: http://nicoleinspain.livejournal.com/ Scroll down to the 10/15 entry! I will add some pictures, though, and a video from the bagpipers performing in front of the Santiago de Compostela Catedral, a pilgrimage point for Roman Catholics......

The next two weeks brought a lot of revisiting old Spanish friends and Maria Jose (the woman who I lived with here in Spain, picture included), as well as old haunts from my time abroad. I'm not sure why I waited so long to rediscover all of these people and places, but once I did, I was so glad to be able to know them twice over. It makes me feel like I own a little part of Madrid, or that it is as much my city as Nashville is, which is comforting, particularly since I am miles away from so many of the people I have been close to for years.

I also took part in a course my roommate teaches that focuses on learning about cultural identity and diversity through art. This is a topic that comes up daily, as people inevitably as "Y de donde eres?" ("Where are you from?") and when I say the United States, people stare blankly, waiting to hear where I'm REALLY from. It was very interesting and made me feel much closer to my roommates, since we are all transplants in some form or another here (Julia is the German-Spaniard and Simona is the Romanian who immigrated to Spain eight years ago).
Apart from lots of coffees, dinners, and drinks with friends, the other significant of the past month was that my parents came to visit! Though they were here for only four days total, we crammed in a lot of sight-seeing and (much to their chagrin) walking around Madrid. However, in the end, it was so great to see them and to have them see and understand a little better what my life is like here. We went to Toledo and Segovia, both day trips from Madrid, had tea with my host mother Maria Jose (which was interesting since she doesn't speak English and they don't speak Spanish), met up with my roommates and new Fulbright friends, went to mseums, and took hundreds of pictures and hours of film. A few pictures of their visit are also included here, no extra charge ;)

They are off now to India after a brief stopover in Dubai for my cousin Ranak's wedding. This fact makes me insanely jealous, as Ranak is my other sister and the thought of not being at her wedding is bizarre and sad. If I could have one super power, it would be to be able to instantly apparate to any place I wished quickly, like they do in Harry Potter. Now that would rock....

For now, I am taking it easy on a Sunday evening after a venting session with all of the Secondary School Fulbright TAs. We are supposed to be implementing what is essentially a Model UN program for our middle-school-aged kids who are still learning English. It is really pretty challenging and slightly disorganized still as we all try to understand better the program and our role (and, most importantly, try to get our kids to shut up and listen to us). As I have written a novel, though, I will save a more in depth post about the challenges of teaching for another day. I will say though, that the other Fulbrighters and I are officially teachers. It consumes our lives and when we get together, we always, inevitably, end up talking about our frustrations and successes (which are few and far between at times), and our kids.

I know I get zero sympathy for you hard workers back there in the states (and I don't really expect any; I love this scholarship and even my job). I just want you to know that teaching a group of 12-year-old rambunctious Spanish kids about the rules and procedures isn't the easiest job in the world. This includes teaching them to raise their hands and use the meeting jargon, such as "Point of Inquiry" or "Point of Information" or "Motion to dismiss the meeting." In fact, as one of my kids politely raised his hands (I was ecstatic) and told me in class, "Teacher this is point of BORING! Motion to dismiss this meeting!" At least he got the jargon right.

Here's the video, sorry my video skills are so god-awful (just tilt your head).