Orientation/Moving In

My plan for this blog was to write one entry per week, however, the amount of things to talk about from this past week is making that a daunting task. Still, I'll try to summarize the most important aspects here.

The Fulbright orientation lasted from Mon-Wed, and consisted of a series of welcomes from various Spanish and English affiliates (the Commision in Spain, the U.S. Embassy, the Comunidad de Madrid, etc), briefings on aspects of living and working in Spain (the education system, economic development, immigration, safety issues) as well as Model UN training for secondary teaching assistants like myself.

A quick explanation of this latter topic; Model UN is an American program originally conceived for the college level, then adapted to the high school level, and the organization that started it (UNUSA.org) has recently begun exporting it to other countries through an initiative called "Global Classrooms". Now there are high school age students all over the world researching complex political issues, learning formal rules of debate, honing public speaking and negotiating skills, and writing policy papers and resolutions, all in a second language. I'm very interested to see how this plays out in practical terms in the classroom, where the Global Classrooms project is part of the curriculum. I will be responsible for guiding the students through the process, from learning the rules of debate through researching topics through presenting the points of view of different countries. I'm still not exactly clear on the details of how this will work, which is a bit unnerving given I am, as my coordinator said, the "jefe" of Model UN at the school:-). But, like many things here, I'll figure it out as I go along.

Whatever philosophical and practical issues I may have with the UN itself, I like how this program (which is run by a non-profit NOT affiliated with the UN) gives students an awareness of the international dimensions of salient issues, exposes them to different perspectives, and shows them how difficult it can be to reach an international consensus. I believe in the value of understanding context as a means of effecting change, and in some ways, I think this kind of program achieves the goal of international cooperation better than the actual UN, where cynicism outweighs idealism. With these students, perhaps that balance hasn't yet shifted. It will be challenging for me to remain neutral throughout this program, and not let my personal views about the ineffectiveness and limitations of the UN (at least its political arm) affect how I approach things.

Getting back to orientation, one of the interesting things I learned about Spain is that, despite its image as a very casual, relaxed culture, Spaniards actually work the longest hours on average of any European nation. However, there is still a very strong "work hard, play hard" attitude. As one official explained, it is common for people to be out until 3 or 4 in the morning. . .but you still have to get up for work at 7:00:-). Dinner isn't until 9:00 at the earliest, and many restaurants don't open until then. There is still "siesta" during the workday, a two hour period in the afternoon (usually about 3-5) when most stores and businesses close, and people go to cafes or go home for a snack or a rest.

I have experienced a more casual approach to things in general. For example, I went to a staff meeting at my school on Thursday; half the teachers were in jeans(the dress code is alot more relaxed), the meeting that was supposed to start at 12:30 didn't start until 1:00 because everyone decided to go for coffee first, and the topics they were discussing were things I was surprised to hear the day before school started--like what kind of AV equipment they wanted to request for their classrooms. In fact, as of today, I do not know my class schedule because the teachers still didn't know theirs when I met with them on Thursday. The teachers were very casual with each other, joking and and touching arms, necks, backs affectionately, arguing with each other very directly and without the pretense of politeness I would expect between American colleagues. Granted, I have never been to a department staff meeting in the US, but I imagine that, no matter how friendly the teachers are with each other, there is more formality involved. Along these lines, I have learned that the use of the formal "Ud" form of address is not used as frequently as it used to be. The only person I have encountered so far in which I was told to use the Ud form was the Principal of my school. In general, the areas in which I expected more formality have been more relaxed (i.e. professional relationships) and the areas I expected less rigidity have been more formal (i.e. anything dealing with local government).

Aside from Fulbright side of things, I'm still exploring Madrid whenever I can. I went to the Prado Museum on Sunday (when it's free), and my friend and I have expanded our "adventure walks" well beyond the neighborhoods around our orientation residence. We went to the Avenida de América area, which is mainly businesses and upscale hotels, but also alot of embassies. Places like the Italian consulate are housed in pretty pastel-colored buildings reminiscent of country villas. During our walk, we came upon one large, ugly structure with bars on the windows and police tanks out front. "That must be a prison", I commented to my friend, "kind of a weird place for a prison, no?". "Um, Talia", she said, looking at the entrance, "I think that's the American embassy".



After the Prado, my friend suggested a place in Sol, which is the center of the center of Madrid, for a group of us to eat. It is called Demontaditos, and it specializes in small bocadillos (baguette sandwiches). There is a whole menu and you check off the kinds you want (manchego cheese with honey is my favorite so far); each bocadillo is about a euro, so you can have a fantastic meal for cheap. Having lived more or less like a rabbit for a week at the residencia (vegetarian options were not a specialty--think lots of salad and pieces of fruit), this was the best meal I've had in Madrid thus far. Anyone who comes to visit can expect to be taken there. Just saying.

On Thursday, I officially moved into my apartment. So far, it's been great. I like all the flatmates (all 7 of them), and I'm sad that most of them are leaving in October. I hope I get as lucky with the new people (fingers crossed). The first night, my flatmate Cecile (French) invited me to go to Toledo with her and our other flatmate Anne (German) and Anne's boyfriend on Saturday, which I did (I'm going to write a separate entry about that trip). I was really flattered to be asked after a five minute conversation, a gesture consistent with the openness I've experienced with Europeans my age so far (I have no illusion that everything is perfect here and I'm sure I will meet some not-so-nice people; I've just been incredibly lucky up to this point).

I've also been the beneficiary of some excellent home-cooked meals; one of my Greek flatmates made an amazing fish and vegetable dish, and basically dumped half of it on my plate, unsolicited. The next night, there was an almost all-flatmate spaghetti dinner (6 of us plus three guests) courtesy of an Italian girl who is crashing on the couch while she looks for an apartment. Then yesterday, I helped (well, I washed dishes and watched) while Anne made a fried dough dish with pisto (pisto is sort of a Spanish version of ratatouille), which I was also invited to share. I say all this because I think I've become known in the piso as "the American who doesn't cook", and my flatmates are taking pity on me. This may be an unfortunate reinforcement of an American stereotype (TV-dinner eating couch potatoes), but I can't say this perception is entirely untrue in my case; I'm not a great cook, and I've been fortunate/spoiled to always be around someone who is (my sister, my college roommate, my boyfriend). I of course make my own meals, but certainly nothing as elaborate as what my flatmates do on a daily basis. Maybe now is my big chance to branch out. . .


I've already had a number of interesting conversations with my flatmates. Four of them are French, but they speak Spanish when I'm around, which I really appreciate. In fact, I think I may be picking up Spanish with a French accent--I've caught myself with certain words a few times already:-). My most challenging experience so far was trying to explain the electoral college in Spanish:-). I also had a conversation about 9/11, and discussed the differences in basketball rules between Europe and the NBA. The European basketball ("baloncesto") championship was this week (the games were actually in Madrid) and Spain made it to the final, only to lose to Russia by one point in the final minute. A very exciting game--I watched it last night. It all came down to the "tiros libres" (foul shots).

This week I begin working at the school--I'm both excited and anxious to start. Hasta pronto!