Sunday, February 24, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Letters from the Half Way Point
I am writing this entry just past the halfway mark of my grant, having completed five months and now having five months remaining. Somehow, I have a feeling that the second half is going to fly by at a faster pace than the first. Since New Year, I feel like time has been snowballing, each week passing more quickly than the last. So before its June already, I wanted to write down some reflections of the first half of my time in Spain. Here goes;
Madrid: I have a heartfelt appreciation for the metro system (considered one of the best urban public transportation networks in Europe). After the public transport abyss that is L.A. (read: having to drive everywhere), I love how easy it is to use, how extensive the network is, and how safe I feel using it (knock on wood. . .). It has played a huge role in fostering a sense of familiarity with the city. Even though the metro is excellent, Madrid is still an eminently walkable place, a fact that has encouraged me to explore on my own in a way I've never done anywhere else. Despite the fact that I have no problem living here without a car, many Madrileños do: Madrid is still one of the most polluted cities in Europe. There was the equivalent of a smog alert a couple weeks ago when the temperature rose. It's a shame.
I like the vibe of the city itself. I love that there are 'normal' people out in the streets and in bars and restaurants 24 hours a day. I love the preponderance of plazas and little parks in every neighborhood where one can sit and read and people-watch. Despite the stereotype of Castilians as the "coldest" of the Spanish people, my interactions have been generally warm and friendly. I have traveled to other parts of Spain (and hope to hit a few more places in the next few months), and while they have all been great, interesting excursions, I find myself looking forward to being back 'home', which I think says alot about how I have bonded with Madrid. We're amigos. I still give thanks to the apartment gods for the amazing location and atmosphere of my international house of pancakes (final count until June: 2 Greeks, 1 Italian, 3 French, 2 Americans, 1 Brit), which I know has had a huge impact on my attitude towards living here.
I still bemoan the lack of vegetarian options in Spanish cuisine, but have become much more gastronomically adventurous as a result. I have discovered setas (a type of wild mushroom), pulpo gallego (Galician-style octopus), clara con limon (a light beer), mejillones (mussels), chirimoyas (it's a fruit that looks like a shrunken artichoke. . .) and I eat a wider variety of vegetables than I did in the States (beggars can't be choosers). So, ironically, I can thank the more limited nature of food options for expanding my culinary horizons:-). And cheese. I eat alot of cheese.
School: I have mixed feelings about my work experience. I truly like the teachers I work with, and I know my school runs more smoothly than many. Nevertheless, it can be frustrating for an organized person coming from a preparation-oriented professional culture to enter an environment in which there is less advanced planning (i.e. lesson plans more than a few days ahead of time), to make the switch from a culture which emphasizes being punctual to one that is much more laid-back (classes rarely start on time, extended coffee breaks). The upside of this is that professional culture is less formal, colleagues (at least my school) are more jovial and informal and demonstrative in their interactions in a way I find really appealing. The Spanish pride themselves on improvisation, and I definitely feel I have learned to go with the flow more in the last five months (spontaneity and flexibility are good tools to have in your arsenal), though I still struggle with the lack of structure and consistency.
I also feel the bilingual program has a long way to go before it can be considered to be doing justice to its students, most of whom lack the English competency to follow a national curriculum in a second language, a curriculum that is already considered lacking by European standards and among many Spanish educators. There are also almost no resources produced specifically for them, so the bilingual teachers do not have a lot of material support with which to enrich the bilingual program. Largely because of these systemic issues, I have been feeling like my presence in the classroom makes little positive impact on their educational experience. There are days when I feel like it makes no difference if I even show up or not. I guess that's a universal problem for teachers, feeling like you can't reach your kids no matter what you do, but that doesn't make me feel better about feeling ineffective.
As far as my research, I have barely started the more formal work of reading up on pedagogy and educational policy, but I think about the differences between the Spanish and US education systems all the time. More and more, I am hesitant to generalize about either one, as the more I read and the more people I talk to, I realize how little I know and how limited my frame of reference is. Like everything, my view of both has become less black and white. My frustration with the bilingual program has clouded my judgement in some ways, and I need to overcome these biases if I want to develop something credible.
Travel: Since my last update, I've traveled to El Escorial, which is a monastary/library/former royal residence in a pretty little mountain town about an hour outside of Madrid. On the same day, we went to Valle de Los Caidos (the Valley of the Fallen), which is where Franco is buried in a huge underground monument-tomb he had built for himself using slave labor (no pictures allowed inside). It was also meant to honor Nationalists died fighting during the Spanish Civil War, but I was told that now it also meant to honor Republicans as well. How these two purposes coexist I don't quite understand. It was also very strange to see fresh flowers on the marker in the floor where his body is, while tourists and Spaniards wander the intimidating, cavernous space (a church, really). It was another example of the very strange attitude towards the Franco era that Spain seems to have. I don't know if it's acceptance, denial, 'it wasn't so bad'-ness, or what. The transition to democracy was a peaceful one, aided in large part by King Juan Carlos, whose education Franco had overseen, yet no one seems to hold that against him. Many of Franco's government officials stayed on through the transition, being absorbed into the democratic parties that emerged. There were never trials of former regime higher ups responsible for human rights abuses, never really a confrontation of the recent past. Spain underwent incredible economic growth in the 80s and 90s, so maybe the desire for vengeance was diminished, the need for reconciliation not urgent. This is still something I found fascinating and confusing about Spanish culture. It was strange to be in the Valle de Los Caidos, not sure how I should feel about the whole thing, and wondering how I would feel about it if I were Spanish.
On a less somber note, I also went to Barcelona. What a cool city. I'll post a link to my pictures, but I'll sum it up by saying it was a weekend full of Gaudi, Catalan history, and thorough pavement pounding (the Gothic neighborhood, La Rambla, Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, etc). We even made it out to Girona, which is a small city outside Barcelona with a preserved medieval quarter and the remaining part of an old Roman wall surrounding the city that you can walk on top of along the perimeter of the city, high above it.
Next stop: Bilbao, the Basque Country
That's enough for now--onto the downhill part of this 10 month journey.
Madrid: I have a heartfelt appreciation for the metro system (considered one of the best urban public transportation networks in Europe). After the public transport abyss that is L.A. (read: having to drive everywhere), I love how easy it is to use, how extensive the network is, and how safe I feel using it (knock on wood. . .). It has played a huge role in fostering a sense of familiarity with the city. Even though the metro is excellent, Madrid is still an eminently walkable place, a fact that has encouraged me to explore on my own in a way I've never done anywhere else. Despite the fact that I have no problem living here without a car, many Madrileños do: Madrid is still one of the most polluted cities in Europe. There was the equivalent of a smog alert a couple weeks ago when the temperature rose. It's a shame.
I like the vibe of the city itself. I love that there are 'normal' people out in the streets and in bars and restaurants 24 hours a day. I love the preponderance of plazas and little parks in every neighborhood where one can sit and read and people-watch. Despite the stereotype of Castilians as the "coldest" of the Spanish people, my interactions have been generally warm and friendly. I have traveled to other parts of Spain (and hope to hit a few more places in the next few months), and while they have all been great, interesting excursions, I find myself looking forward to being back 'home', which I think says alot about how I have bonded with Madrid. We're amigos. I still give thanks to the apartment gods for the amazing location and atmosphere of my international house of pancakes (final count until June: 2 Greeks, 1 Italian, 3 French, 2 Americans, 1 Brit), which I know has had a huge impact on my attitude towards living here.
I still bemoan the lack of vegetarian options in Spanish cuisine, but have become much more gastronomically adventurous as a result. I have discovered setas (a type of wild mushroom), pulpo gallego (Galician-style octopus), clara con limon (a light beer), mejillones (mussels), chirimoyas (it's a fruit that looks like a shrunken artichoke. . .) and I eat a wider variety of vegetables than I did in the States (beggars can't be choosers). So, ironically, I can thank the more limited nature of food options for expanding my culinary horizons:-). And cheese. I eat alot of cheese.
School: I have mixed feelings about my work experience. I truly like the teachers I work with, and I know my school runs more smoothly than many. Nevertheless, it can be frustrating for an organized person coming from a preparation-oriented professional culture to enter an environment in which there is less advanced planning (i.e. lesson plans more than a few days ahead of time), to make the switch from a culture which emphasizes being punctual to one that is much more laid-back (classes rarely start on time, extended coffee breaks). The upside of this is that professional culture is less formal, colleagues (at least my school) are more jovial and informal and demonstrative in their interactions in a way I find really appealing. The Spanish pride themselves on improvisation, and I definitely feel I have learned to go with the flow more in the last five months (spontaneity and flexibility are good tools to have in your arsenal), though I still struggle with the lack of structure and consistency.
I also feel the bilingual program has a long way to go before it can be considered to be doing justice to its students, most of whom lack the English competency to follow a national curriculum in a second language, a curriculum that is already considered lacking by European standards and among many Spanish educators. There are also almost no resources produced specifically for them, so the bilingual teachers do not have a lot of material support with which to enrich the bilingual program. Largely because of these systemic issues, I have been feeling like my presence in the classroom makes little positive impact on their educational experience. There are days when I feel like it makes no difference if I even show up or not. I guess that's a universal problem for teachers, feeling like you can't reach your kids no matter what you do, but that doesn't make me feel better about feeling ineffective.
As far as my research, I have barely started the more formal work of reading up on pedagogy and educational policy, but I think about the differences between the Spanish and US education systems all the time. More and more, I am hesitant to generalize about either one, as the more I read and the more people I talk to, I realize how little I know and how limited my frame of reference is. Like everything, my view of both has become less black and white. My frustration with the bilingual program has clouded my judgement in some ways, and I need to overcome these biases if I want to develop something credible.
Travel: Since my last update, I've traveled to El Escorial, which is a monastary/library/former royal residence in a pretty little mountain town about an hour outside of Madrid. On the same day, we went to Valle de Los Caidos (the Valley of the Fallen), which is where Franco is buried in a huge underground monument-tomb he had built for himself using slave labor (no pictures allowed inside). It was also meant to honor Nationalists died fighting during the Spanish Civil War, but I was told that now it also meant to honor Republicans as well. How these two purposes coexist I don't quite understand. It was also very strange to see fresh flowers on the marker in the floor where his body is, while tourists and Spaniards wander the intimidating, cavernous space (a church, really). It was another example of the very strange attitude towards the Franco era that Spain seems to have. I don't know if it's acceptance, denial, 'it wasn't so bad'-ness, or what. The transition to democracy was a peaceful one, aided in large part by King Juan Carlos, whose education Franco had overseen, yet no one seems to hold that against him. Many of Franco's government officials stayed on through the transition, being absorbed into the democratic parties that emerged. There were never trials of former regime higher ups responsible for human rights abuses, never really a confrontation of the recent past. Spain underwent incredible economic growth in the 80s and 90s, so maybe the desire for vengeance was diminished, the need for reconciliation not urgent. This is still something I found fascinating and confusing about Spanish culture. It was strange to be in the Valle de Los Caidos, not sure how I should feel about the whole thing, and wondering how I would feel about it if I were Spanish.
On a less somber note, I also went to Barcelona. What a cool city. I'll post a link to my pictures, but I'll sum it up by saying it was a weekend full of Gaudi, Catalan history, and thorough pavement pounding (the Gothic neighborhood, La Rambla, Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, etc). We even made it out to Girona, which is a small city outside Barcelona with a preserved medieval quarter and the remaining part of an old Roman wall surrounding the city that you can walk on top of along the perimeter of the city, high above it.
Next stop: Bilbao, the Basque Country
That's enough for now--onto the downhill part of this 10 month journey.
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