The New Me!

The first lesson I am developing for my English classes is a getting-to-know-you worksheet and exercise. I have to complete a worksheet for myself to model what I want them to do. Among other things, there is a section in this worksheet where students can draw whatever they want, like a self-portrait or original design. On my worksheet, I created self-portrait by creating a Yahoo! avatar.

What do you think?

Viva Vosotros!

I'm glad I have this forum to stand up to all the Spanish teachers I've had in the past and those who are currently teaching in the United States.

First, I was always taught in high school and college the vosotros verbal form (plural you, familar).

Second, I was always taught that vosotros was used mainly in Spain and was rare in other Spanish-speaking countries (among other differences).

Third, I was told that vosotros was only used with close friends and family and, therefore, would probably never have a situation in which I needed to use it.

Fourth, I know from experience that the vosotros form is omitted from Spanish language classes in high-schools and colleges across the U.S.

So, imagine when I arrive in Spain a few years later and hear vosotros all over the place! I hear it in both in casual conversations with my roommates in Madrid and serious meetings with the principal and teacher's union representative at my school. I feel so misinformed.

I do have a slight leg up on those who have never learned this verb form, but I still resent teachers who, from choosing not to teach vosotros, imply that students will never travel to Spain to use their Spanish or cannot grasp cultural differences among Spanish-speaking countries.

Perhaps I should start a petition to bring back vosotros to the U.S. for good?

Long live vosotros!

Que Bonita Segovia!

I took a short trip to Segovia during my first weekend in Spain with two of my companeros de Simmons College. Intrigued by talk of an aqueduct, a castle that inspired Walt Disney and the city's famous conchinillo (roasted suckling pig), we took a one-hour bus ride north from Madrid's Principe Pio station to take a look (and taste) for ourselves.


After a 10 minute walk down a main street from the bus station, we were greeted with the dramatic sight of the city's Roman aqueduct, built at the end of the 1st century BC.



A little further up the winding, narrow, shop-lined street that also happens to accommodate cars (!) is the Segovia Cathedral. This Gothic cathedral was build in the mid 1500s.

A little further up the street was the stunning Alcazar, built toward the end of the 11th century. Although the name is a relic from the Moors who occupied Spain for almost 500 years, I haven't found definite information that they made it as far north as Segovia. Historians say that the Romans initially built on this site originally. It has been the home of Castillian Kings, and the influence for Cinderella's Castle at Disney World. Both the building and the view from the Alcazar are stunning!

Of course, by the time we walked from the aqueduct, to the cathedral, and to the Alcazar, we were quite hungry. Restaurants featuring menu del dia lined the path; most featuring the dish the city is known for; Conchinillo. It is served different ways in different places (i.e., whole versus pieces) and we expected the most dramatic entrance; snout, tail and all. Instead, at Restaurante La Catedral we got a chunk of the leg that featured fork-tender, full-flavored pork and a wafer-crisp, caramelized skin.




You can see the main sites of Segovia in a day, which makes it a perfect day-trip from Madrid. It's beauty is a true payoff!

No Bull

So, we have health insurance through a Spanish health care company called MAPFRE. One of the stipulations written into the contract, curiously, is that we cannot do anything with bulls. No running , no petting and I bet if they could, they would say no looking at a bull. I think it is unbelievable that they had such foresight on this detail that they wrote it into the health insurance policy. Yet at the same time, I understand it completely.

Fortunately, they didn't go that far because I'm trying to rally some troops to go to the bullfights in Madrid at Las Ventas in early October.

So, I found the mini-application (at the bottom of this page) where I can simulate running with the bulls if I ever get the urge. Try it...it's fun!

This Place Rocks for Drugs!

600 mg of ibuprofen, over the counter: 2, 97 Euros (4.15 USD)

Aqui Esta

I'm finally slowing down for a minute to write my first blog entry from Spain. The first thing I did after landing at my apartment at around 2pm Spanish time was take a quick siesta, por supuesto! Upon waking, I took a quick shower and was up and at 'em for a walk up the main street in my neighborhood to the very edges of the Parque del Buen Retiro and the Paseo del Prado. After almost 22 hours of travel, I was feeling -- and hearing -- my stomach growl. Then, like a shining beacon among the few Burger Kings and McDonalds in this touristy area, I find the only possible place I could go: Museo del Jamon.



In Europe, a bar is somewhere where you mainly get food, and happen to have a drink, rather than the other way around as in the U.S. In many ways, the Museo del Jamon is like any bar in Madrid, except it has what seems like a hundred legs of ham hanging from the ceilings for ambiance. This is no place for vegetarians or sympathizers! While at the original location of this chain of bars on Paseo del Prado, I had a large sandwich -- called a bocadillo mixto -- with delicious manchego cheese and a few slices of Spain's famous Serrano ham. I chased it with a cana of Spanish beer -- Mahou. It all looked sort of like this.

In case my description of the whole spectacle of seeing a hundred legs of ham hanging from a ceiling is lacking, here is a slightly better photo of another bar on Calle Alcala in Madrid:










I said a prayer to the food gods for giving me such a welcome to Madrid!

Adios, y'all!

In just two hours I will be leaving my house and making my way to Logan International Airport in Boston for my 10-month teaching internship in Madrid, Spain. So far, I've been preparing for this adventure as if it is simply an extended vacation. I think that's why I've remained so calm in this last week. But I'm still a little nervous because upon landing, I'll be going straight to my new apartment I haven't yet seen and meeting roommates I've yet met. Perhaps I'll be too tired to acknowledge my nervousness and it will pass. Or maybe it will hit me two weeks from now. Who knows?

There are a ton of activities planned for us by our faculty advisor based in Madrid that will take the edge off things. Some business-related, such as meeting the head of the organization UCETAM in Madrid who recruits us teachers from the U.S. and getting Metro cards and cell phones. Some are more fun, such as having a picnic at Templo de Debod, taking a day trip to Segovia or Toledo (Toledo would be my choice having just seen the Spanish painters exhibit at the MFA in Boston), and having Chocolate con Churros and seeing a Flamenco show. What a first week...I'll already be crossing things off my to-do list. Talk about hitting the ground running!