Out of the mouths of babes...

29 Nov 2011

Sometimes, I'm absolutely astounded by the things that my students say. They can be insightful, crazy, insulting, and super sweet.

Today, I couldn't help but laugh.

One of the students mispronounced the word "feast," and so the teacher said, "What do we know about English?" to the class.

The class, with complete seriousness, replied, "You write it one way and pronounce it another."

I had to contain my laughter.

What would happen if we told our children this when they started to learn how to read?

Sorry, kids. You're learning a really messed up language (orthographically-speaking). We'll give you some rules, but actually those won't really work most of the time. You'll just have to memorize that one!

You get situations like:

• -ough can be pronounced NINE different ways
• just to name a few: "through," "thought" and "though" 
• Homophones make our lives hard because you don't know for sure which way to pronounce it without context. See if you can pronounce these correctly the first time: 
• The bandage was wound around the wound.
• The farm was used to produce produce.
• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
• There are words/phrases that just don't even make sense. I found a few of these on the internet. 
• Why do we park in a driveway and drive on a parkway?
• Why do you recite at a play but play at a recital?
• Why do noses run and feet smell?

Later that day, a student asked me if it was true that people in the US only have one last name. 

I already knew that Spaniards have two last names, but I always forget that they think it's weird that we only have one last name. The first last name is usually the father's surname, and the second last name comes from the child's mother. This is handy because you can tell how people are related--if it's through their mothers or fathers.

My students had all sorts of questions. If I only have one last name, who do I get it from? What do Spanish speakers do in the US? Do they keep two last names? What happens when you get married? 

Birthdays

28 Nov 2011

Yesterday, one of my roommates and I got together to make a birthday cake for our third roommate. We made a delicious cake that my mom usually makes for my birthday! It's a chocolate cake that has chocolate chips in it. Then, to make it MORE decadent, you can add chocolate frosting on top! Since it has pudding mix in it, it's super moist and delicious!

In light of this occasion, I've learned a lot about birthday customs here in Spain--which are surprisingly very different.

In the United States, it's typical for families to hold birthday parties for their kids. On this occasion, parents will invite the child's friends and classmates to their house or some other venue. However, as we get older, it's more common for friends to treat the birthday boy or girl on his or her birthday. At least for me, I usually will make a special meal or bake a cake for my friends in the US on their birthday.

However, in Spain, the birthday boy or girl is the one who treats his or her friends. So if a group of friends goes out for dinner and drinks for someone's birthday, the birthday boy or girl is the one who usually pays.

My Italian roommate will be making a special dinner for us on Tuesday night to celebrate her birthday. This feels so backwards to me.

Subir-ing that montana...

27 Nov 2011

As with any Thanksgiving celebration, days after we STILL have leftovers. So today, I got together with an American friend to try to finish up some of our Thanksgiving leftovers.

We started with some leftover salad because almost no one ate any of the salad at our Thanksgiving meal. We also made grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato and cucumber slices. Then, for dessert, we finished off the sweet potato pie and ice cream.

We were stuffed after lunch! So we decided to wander around Alicante in order to walk it off...

In doing so, we inadvertently subir-ed (walked up) the mountain.

We started our stroll by the beach because it's still incredibly nice outside. Most days, it's about 65 degrees F.

Look at that beach! Isn't it beautiful?

After leaving the beach, we wandered around the barrio (the old neighborhood). Here, we stumbled upon some amazing graffiti.

I like this one in particular. It says: Painting graffiti is prohibited.

In some ways, I enjoy seeing graffiti more than going to art museums. Graffiti tells you what people are thinking and how they are feeling in a way that mainstream art never will. Mainstream art is created to be sold, and so it has to conform to what people are willing to buy. Graffiti is done as a form of pure expression. An arena in which no one (at least initially) can censor you.

As we walked through the barrio, I saw a cute little white church that I wanted to see. So we took a path that we thought would lead us to the church.

Instead, it led us to the wall of the castle, and we made the decision to walk up to the main part of the castle.  The sun was just starting to set--which gave us one of the most beautiful views of Alicante.

The Castle! 

Que bella!

Origins of the Crisis

26 Nov 2011

While I've been writing a lot recently about the economic crisis in Spain, I've yet to write about the origins of this crisis.

I'd like to preface by saying that I'm no expert on economics so I'm explaining the situation as I understand it.

Prior to 2008, Spain was actually experiencing a boom in its economy. During the boom, the Spanish government had a nearly balanced budget every year--unlike a number of other European Union countries. The government also had very little in the form of debt.

However, just as in the US, as interest rates decreased, Spaniards began to borrow money at an incredible rate. Like in the United States, there were many Spaniards who bought property during the boom and don't have any way to pay it off--at least not until they're 70 years old. Brand new apartment buildings sit empty because no one will buy them.

The second contributing factor to the current economic situation is the inflation in Spanish wages. Over time, Spanish wages have grown to an unsustainable level. For this reason, with the economic crisis, companies have had to fire employees because they can't afford to pay them at the current rate.

Furthermore, with the housing bust, there isn't a lot of new construction. Consequently, there are many people unemployed because of it--since construction jobs once made up 13% of Spanish jobs.

However, to make matters worse, the Spanish government is borrowing money at an alarming rate in order to pay unemployment benefits. Don't get me wrong. The government needs to help out unemployed people, but it seems like a vicious cycle. The more unemployed people there are, the more the Spanish government has to borrow to pay unemployment benefits (because it's a welfare state). The more that the government has to borrow, the less confidence lenders have in their ability to pay it back. This leads to an increase in interest rates--which the government can't really afford to pay.

All these factors add up to the current situation in Spain:  high unemployment (because of the housing bust and inflated wages) and rising debt.


**All of this information comes from what I've been reading in the paper, I've heard from Spaniards, and from an excellent article from the BBC.

A Traditional-ish American Thanksgiving!

25 Nov 2011

Given that most of us (Americans in Alicante) had to work yesterday, we decided to hold our Thanksgiving feast today.

I, unfortunately, had to work and so I didn't get to help with many of the Thanksgiving meal preparations.

We only had a few mishaps/complications.

The first of which was the oven--or lack of ovens.

As anyone who has ever cooked for Thanksgiving knows, there are always too many things that you want to cook at the same time. So we had to divide and conquer. We ended up using three different ovens in three different apartments.

Next, we had to figure out whose ovens to use for what. Spanish ovens can be... kind of finicky. Not everyone had an oven that could cook from the top and the bottom--so we had to make sure that the chickens went to the ovens that did.

Which brings me to the third complication--gas ovens. One of my American friends has a gas oven that you have to light with a lighter. Turn on the gas. Stick your hand with the lighter in the oven. Wait to see if it lights? Sounds kind of scary, right? We also didn't know how to use it and where to put the lighter--so it was a little tense as we waited to see if we were going to have to take someone to the hospital with serious burns.

Then, there was the issue of the turkey. You can't really buy a whole turkey here in Spain. Not to mention that none of us have ever cooked one. So we decided to buy and stuff a few chickens. Nobody really likes turkey anyway...

In spite of all these issues (and some others that I refrained from writing about), we were able to put together a pretty traditional Thanksgiving spread--with a few Spanish improvements. :)

All in all, we had a salad, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes (with gravy), chicken, sweet potato pie, apple pie, and brownies.

In addition to the Americans in attendance, we also had some Thanksgiving newbies from four different countries! We had a German, a Spaniard, a French girl, and a few Italians.

It was fun to share the moment with them and explain to them all of our traditions!

We also spent some time talking about language stereotypes. Someone shared this video with Catherine Tate "translating." In turn, we shared the famous "One Semester of Spanish-Love Song" and "Qué hora es?." Even if you don't know Spanish, you should be able to find the humor in these clips.

Turkey Day!

24 Nov 2011

As with Tuesday and Wednesday, I continued teaching my students about Thanksgiving and doing the traditional hand turkeys.

Once again, I want to share a few cute/hilarious anecdotes of my students' reactions to Thanksgiving.

"Did that really happen?" Yes. The story of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans is mostly true--with just some factual liberties taken. And, of course, not mentioning the genocide that would follow.

"Where did you learn that story?" In school. A long time ago, when I was a kid, we were taught the story of Thanksgiving every year.

"This is the best day of English class ever!" I'm glad that hand turkeys and Thanksgiving coloring pages are that exciting.

"Thank you for a good life." I was asking my students to list off the things that they were thankful for and this was one of the most touching.

With some students, I did a Thanksgiving acrostic poem. The idea was that they should write the word "Thanksgiving" vertically. For each letter, they should write a word or phrase that starts with that letter and that they are thankful for. For the letter "V," one student wrote "vultures." For "K," a couple students wrote "king." For "G," a student wrote "good football." 

"I wish we had Thanksgiving in Spain! I want to eat turkey and pie!"  

The pressure mounts

23 Nov 2011

Lucky me. Today, I got to experience not just one but TWO gota frías. (A gota fría is when it downpours in just one spot.)

As I was waiting for my ride to work, it started to downpour. Thankfully, I could hide under the overhang at the bus stop. Within five minutes, the street almost turned into a river--it was so full of rain!

Later, right when were preparing to leave for lunch, it started to rain even harder than it did this morning! We were stuck inside for 20 minutes before it tapered off enough for us to be able to leave without getting soaked!

Like Alicante, the new Spanish government is (metaphorically) being inundated with demands from the rest of the European Union.

Even though Spain just elected a new Prime Minister on Sunday, Spain is being pressured to take action immediately to deal with the current economic situation--or risk the downgrading of their credit rating.

They fear that Spain--like Greece and Italy--will be the next country to fall to the debt crisis. And not without reason. Spain is the third government within the last few weeks that has changed political leadership due to the economic situation; admittedly, in Spain, the elections were planned.

At this point, Spain is teetering on the brink of financial crisis. As I understand it, in Europe, a country's financial viability is measured by the interest rate that they are charged. An interest rate of 7% or higher indicates that the markets have little faith in the country's ability to pay its debts. Up to this point, countries (like Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Greece) with a rate of 7% or higher have received a bailout from the EU. Spain is hovering around 6.3%.

In addition to Spain's interest rate, there is also the issue of unemployment in Spain. Spain has one of the highest rates of unemployment in Europe at 21%. It's even worse for young people. Olli Rehn, a commissioner with the European Union said, "Si yo fuera un joven español, afrontaría un paro juvenil por encima del 40 %, mientras que en Holanda tienen un 4 % y en Austria un 5 %, y me preguntaría por qué." (If I were a Spanish youth, confronted with an unemployment rate upwards of 40%, while Holland has a rate of 4% and Austria 5%, I would ask myself why.)

The Spanish economic situation is highly problematic for the European Union because Spain has the 4th largest economy within the European Union. If Spain fails, it may signal the end of the euro. 



** Disclaimer: I'm not very knowledgeable about economics. I'm explaining what I've read to the best of my ability--based on my understanding.

Pavos reales! No... they're turkeys!

22 Nov 2011

Pilgrims... Native Americans... Feast... Turkey... Football... Black Friday...

Try explaining the first Thanksgiving to a group of kids who have never heard of Thanksgiving and who have no equivalent holiday in their own culture. Add in a foreign language...

And you have a holiday that sounds pretty weird. But actually fits in with Spanish stereotypes of how Americans eat.

This morning, I began teaching my students about the American tradition of Thanksgiving--El día de acción de gracias. None of them had ever heard of Thanksgiving before because their teachers tend to focus more on the British (or British/American) traditions.

So I got a clean slate--which is both a good thing and a bad thing.

It was great because they didn't have any stereotypes or misinformation about the holiday. Unfortunately, we were not able to get through as much as I wanted because it took longer to explain the story of Thanksgiving than I thought. Mostly because one of my classrooms doesn't have a projector so I had to tell the story using cartoon drawings...

Sometimes they got a little confused. They thought that the turkey picture I put on the board was a pavo real (a peacock) and I had to explain that it was a pavo that you eat. They also got a kick out of the word "pie." They kept pronouncing it the Spanish way--pie--which means "foot." I told them that pie was much more delicious than feet. 

Then, we did the traditional hand turkeys--which the kids loved especially the older ones who don't get to do a lot of drawing and coloring! Before we started this project, we brainstormed on things that we were thankful for.

I got a variety of responses. The typical: my family, my friends, food, my house... The superficial: my TV, my computer... The touching: Spain, my grandma, my grandpa.

Of course, everyone had a lot of questions afterwards...

"Bobbi, are you going back to America for Thanksgiving?" Unfortunately, no. But, I'm lucky enough to get to celebrate with some Americans in Alicante.

"Bobbi, how many kilos of food do people eat?" Sorry, in American, we don't measure in kilos so I have absolutely no idea how much we eat on Thanksgiving.

"Why didn't the Pilgrims just go back to England when they got sick?" Unfortunately, they couldn't because it took months to cross the ocean.

"Why does the President pardon a turkey? Where does it go? Do they eat it next year?" He pardons the turkey because it's tradition. The turkey goes to some sort of turkey paradise and is lucky enough to not get eaten.

A less than optimistic outlook...

21 Nov 2011

Yesterday, Spain elected a new Prime Minister--Rajoy. Rajoy, has promised to bring about change in this country stricken by unemployment and debt. Forty percent of young people in Spain are unemployed. A truly staggering figure.

Nevertheless, I feel that, in light of yesterday's elections, Spain has some hope. There will have to be some drastic changes, but Rajoy is prepared to make them.

However, when I look to my own country, I feel less hopeful. In fact, I'm downright disgusted.

I, like many other Americans, have heard that Congress's Supercommittee was "unable" to reach a compromise on budget cuts. A committee that was supposed to be made of "moderates" couldn't come to an agreement. Really? Do they need a refresher on what compromise means? It means that everyone gives a little FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, and no one ends up 100% happy.

Democrats are pointing fingers at Republicans. Republicans are blaming Democrats. Then, everyone takes the chance to blame Obama--for good measure. In other words, our country's representatives are acting like children. They sound exactly like my 1st graders when they tattle to me about what someone else did (when they also did the same thing).

They won't admit that each and every one of them (Republican, Tea Partier, Democrat, Independent...) is at fault. None of them are accurately representing their constituents. No American wants to see the way that our country is crumbling before our eyes.  

 And now, Congress is trying to stop the automatic cuts from going into effect.

I'm ashamed.

How can I be proud of my country, mi patria, when our representatives squabble over their differences at the cost of our country?

I know this post isn't exactly related to Spain or my teaching experience, but I feel a great sadness in watching the downward spiral of our country...

PP wins the elections--Rajoy is Prime Minister

20 Nov 2011

20-N has finally come! Election Day in Spain!

As was expected, the conservative Partido Popular (PP) won the most number of seats in the Spanish Congress--making Rajoy the new Prime Minister of Spain. PP won 186 seats in the Congress while PSOE only won 110 seats. This gives the PP a very definite majority--which will mean that they will have fewer issues setting policy.

Rajoy's primary concern as Prime Minister is the state of the economy in Spain--especially given that Spain has an unemployment rate of 21.5%. As Rajoy stated, "My enemies are: unemployment, the deficit, and excessive debt." His first act as Prime Minister is to meet with representatives of all of the Autonomous Communities in order to discuss a plan to fix the current economic situation. 

Rajoy realizes the enormous responsibility that he is going to have and the faith that Spaniards are placing in him. He stated, "Estamos ante una hora decisiva de España. Ante uno de esos cruces de caminos que determinarán el futuro de nuestro país no ya en los próximos años, sino en las próximas décadas." (We're at a decisive hour in Spain. Before one of those crossroads that will determine the future of our country not just in the next few years, but in the next few decades.)

He also very clearly and realistically stated, "No va a haber milagros, no los hemos prometido." (They aren't going to be miracles. We haven't promised them.)

You can read a bit more about the election (in English) here (in Spanish) here.

Approximately 75% of eligible voters went out to vote today. However, around 646,000 Spaniards turned in blank ballots. When calculated, the number of blank ballots accounts for 2.66% of the vote--making it the 6th most voted option.

The 7th most voted option came as a bit of a surprise. The new pro-Basque independence group, Amaiur, won 7 seats--giving the group more seats than the Basque Nationalist Party (who won 5 seats).  

Linguistic sidenote...

19 Nov 2011

Today was a mostly uneventful day--so I've decided to share some linguistic tidbits instead!

cita con las urnas--literally: date with the urns. It means "vote."

chuches--this is probably my new favorite word. :) It's used to refer to sweets--specifically, the type of sweets that you go to a candy store to get. Typically, you go to the candy store, get a bag, and fill it with as many chuches as you'd like. 

Jesús--I was corrected earlier this week on how to say "bless you." I had always heard that you are supposed to say, "Salud" (health). However, one of my host teachers told me that you should say, "Jesús," and that "Salud" is used in Mexico.

pradera--prairie. I'm entirely sure of this word's roots, but it would seem to be related to the word prado which means "meadow" or "field."

medias--word that is used to refer to leggings and tights. It literally means "half."

calabacín--zucchini; however, the first time I encounter the word, I assumed it meant "squash" because the word seems like it's related to the word for pumpkin (calabaza). 

Error Correction

17 Nov 2011

Lately, I've been writing a lot about second language acquisition and best practices in teaching. Those have been things that have been on my mind recently. I've settled into my job here, and I think that my teachers are starting to take my suggestions seriously.

In particular, I've been trying to work on my approach to error correction. In my Methods of Teaching World Languages class, we talked about a number of approaches to correcting student errors and which ones were more likely to lead to uptake (student recognition of his or her error).

There is a lot that goes into error correction. Obviously, a teacher doesn't want to (indeed, can't) correct every error that a student makes. If that were the case, the teacher would spent all of his or her time correcting students, and none of the students would want to speak for fear of being corrected. So a teacher has to decide what his or her priorities are for correcting students. Does the teacher only correct the grammar they are currently working on? Does the teacher correct all pronunciation errors?

Sometimes, there is a tendency to not to correct errors if the student more or less conveys his or her thoughts. This is especially problematic in immersion programs. A study conducted in a Canadian immersion school demonstrated that students were not typically corrected because teachers understood the students’ interlanguage (the language ability that they are developing in their second language; it contains elements from their first language). Teachers did not correct students because they understood what students were trying to say even if there language had many errors. This led to a lack of student growth in the target language because their errors were going uncorrected.


There are a few different types of error correction. One of the ones I most commonly use (though I'm trying to break the habit) is called recasting. As the name would suggests, this involves restating the student's sentence in the corrected form. Frequently, my students forget (or don't pronounce) the -s morpheme--such as, "María like going to the cinema." I repeat back to them (with emphasis) the correct sentence: "María LIKES going to the cinema." However, research shows that this method of error correction isn't necessarily as effective as others. It tends to work better for older students--who are more likely to notice the correction.

Up until this point, I've worked with college-age students who will notice the difference when I correct them using recasting. Now that I'm working with younger students, I'm trying to change my approach to better suit their needs. Studies show that explicit feedback--such as clarification requests (the teacher indicates that he or she doesn't understand what the student said and asks them to clarify what they mean), repetition (the teacher repeats the student's error--emphasizing the error), and metalinguistic feedback (indicates that there is an error without actually giving the corrected form)--are more likely to lead to uptake for students of any age. This is because students have to figure out their error for themselves. They have to think about what they've said and how to correct it.

Rewarding positive behaviors...

18 Nov 2011

As I wrote about earlier this week, I'm trying to find proactive ways to manage the classroom and reward my students for positive behaviors. A friend of mine who is a teacher made a really great suggestion, and I've finally convinced my host teacher to let me try it out.

My 1st and 2nd graders are a pretty active bunch--muy movidos as we say in Spanish. It's tough just trying to get them to all sit down, open their books to the right page, and listen to instructions.

This teacher had suggested that I try writing the word "Game" on the board. If students are talking or not paying attention, I should start to erase the word from the board. This is a signals to students that I'm unhappy with their behavior.

Generally, at this point, all the students start yelling at each other to shut up--or, my favorite, little voices saying, "Silent, please."

If at the end of the class, at least a little bit of the word "Game" is on the board, then, we play a game. If "Game" has been completely erased, we keep going with the lesson.

What I like about this classroom management technique is that it reinforces the types of positive behaviors that I'm looking for. Students realize when they are doing something that isn't acceptable, and they react almost immediately. This technique also teaches students that their actions have consequences for those around them--just as they do in the real world.

Today, both of my 2nd grade classes earned the chance to play a game. We played Matamoscas--in English, Swat. This game was a favorite of mine during high school.

In this game, the class is divided into two teams. Each team sends a representative to the board. Before we start the game, I write vocabulary or put pictures up on the board. During the game, I tell them a word in English (or in Spanish), and they have to hit the word with their flyswatter. The team to hit it first gets a point.

The 2nd graders LOVED the game! Each team was really excited when they got a point, and they would do little celebrations. Some of the students were really concerned with knowing whether they were winning or not. However, it warmed my heart to hear students saying that it's not important if you win or lose. The point is to have fun.

My host teacher is now convinced that I might actually have some good ideas, and she's going to let me do a game with them for the last 10 minutes of each class (if they earn it!).

Positive Reinforcement

16 Nov 2011

One of the most difficult tasks for any teacher is without a doubt classroom management and trying to keep a positive environment in the classroom. Too often we get wrapped up in telling kids "don't do this" or yelling at kids who are misbehaving.We forget to tell the quiet kids who follow instructions promptly that we see and appreciate the way they act.

Indeed, there is a tendency for teachers to learn the names of students who misbehave before they learn the names of the other students. I have around 350 students that I see once a week, and I am ashamed to confess that I don't know all their names even after two months. Unfortunately, the names I do know tend to be the students who draw attention to themselves because of their positive or negative behaviors. 

In one of my educational studies classes in college, a visiting lecturer told us that one of the things that teachers need to be aware of is how they discipline approach affects their students. Does the teacher do it in a negative way or in a positive way? These approaches shape the environment of a classroom. It's the difference between telling a student "please don't run" and "please walk." The latter feels less like an attack and reinforces positive behavior by focusing on the behavior that the teacher wants to illicit.

Another method for fostering a positive environment is to praise students for positive behavior. With my classes here, I've been trying to watch for students who are following my instructions or helping out another student without my asking them to do so. I tell them, "I like that you helped _____," or "Thank you for opening your book right away."

As you can imagine, it makes a big difference to use this approach. I notice that increasingly the students wait for me to come around to their part of the room to show me what they are working on. Today, a student even came up to me and asked if he had behaved well during the class.

I have to admit some times it's a little bit of a struggle because our whole lives we are programed to "not to X" or "Don't Y." In another class, there was a student who was playing with glue. He was licking it and rubbing it on his chest. It was really distracting to the other students, and they all wanted to tell me and the other teacher what he was doing. Obviously, my first reaction was to tell him to stop; however, I didn't really want to give him the attention (albeit, negative) that he was looking for.

As a Fulbrighter, it's not up to me to discipline students. My host teachers ultimately decide how to deal with misbehaving students. While it's the English teachers' job to discipline students in our class, I still wonder: what do you do in this sort of situation to maintain a positive environment?

In this case, the English teacher sent a student to fetch the student's classroom teacher, and he left the class for the rest of the period. This eliminated the distraction for the class, and we were able to continue with the lesson. However, at what cost? By removing the student, he got the (negative) attention he wanted and reinforcement for his negative behavior. He also missed an English class--depriving him of a chance to focus his energy on learning and making him fall further behind (apparently, he was also removed from English class earlier in the week). 
  

Circumlocution...

15 Nov 2011

Circum "around" + locution "speak" --> circumlocution "speaking around"

As any person who has studied a foreign language can attest, there are numerous occasions when you want to convey some thought, but you don't know the word for a key part of what you want to say. That's when your ability to explain the word you are looking for becomes really important.

For example, when I was discussing the current political and economical situation in the US to some of the teachers at school, I could remember the word for "budget." I explained that the word that I wanted to use meant the money that the government decides to give to different departments and programs for the year. While this explanation wasn't as elegant as actually knowing and using the word "budget," it gets the point across.

I've noticed that a number of the older students are relying a lot on Spanish or asking for each word they want. It's good that they ask when they don't know a word. However, often if they reframed their sentence, they could use what they already know to express themselves.

In order to get them thinking about this and give them a little bit of practice, I did a circumlocution activity with some 5th graders. I had them all write down two words--in English or in Spanish. Then, they each took turns trying to explain the word in English--using a mixture of English and gestures.

It was tough for them, but I think it challenged them in a way they needed to be challenged! One student tried to describe "notebook," saying "You write with pen and pencil," "paper," and then did a gesture like a book opening and closing.

I know they thought that the activity was hard and a little strange, but I explained to them that this is how the real world works. I don't know every word in Spanish, and a lot of the Spaniards I meet don't know English. So circumlocution is how I get by when I don't know a word for something. I can't just say, "¿Cómo se dice budget en español?"

I'm planning on trying to do this sort of exercise for the first 5 minutes of each class. I think with time they will find it easier.


 

Discussions about language acquisition

14 Nov 2011

My post about language acquisition on Friday provoked a number of discussions about the complexity of second language acquisition. I just wanted to share a little bit of what questions we've been pondering.

I want to preface everything by saying that there are a number of variables that go into language learning/acquisition. For example, these factors include: age (as I mentioned with the Critical Language Period Hypothesis), learning conditions (immersion setting versus classroom learning), motivation, learning styles, personality. It's hard to isolate any one of these factors (and the others that I didn't mention) and say that this is the most important in language learning/acquisition.

Obviously, learning conditions make a big difference--as I can attest given that I'm currently living in Spain. The more time you spent immersed in the language the more input you are getting. This may make your language learning more like acquisition. In contrast, if you are in a class for only an hour a day, you probably aren't getting enough exposure, and it's more learning-based.

At dinner tonight, we were talking about the ways in which people conceptualize their second language. While I can move between Spanish and English with ease, I think of them as two very separate languages as opposed to thinking of them as fluid. I don't think about translating or moving from one language to another. For me, the words in each of these languages retains a uniqueness that can't be translated--which is why I think of them as kept in two separate "boxes."

This led to a conversation about our students and what we try to do with them. I've noticed that the teacher tries to teach the students in "word clusters." This isn't a technical term. I've just used it to describe something that I've observed. So a "word cluster" is a grouping of words that acts as a unit. So my 6th graders were working on the phrase "want to go" as in "do you want to go...?"

When speaking a language, some people have to literally translate word for word what they are saying--so it becomes yo--hablo--espanol. However, if you think about the way you speak in your native language, you realize that native speakers/fluent speakers speak in word clusters.

That's what I'm working on while I'm here in Spain with some of the more challenging grammar. For example, anyone learning Spanish can tell you that indirect and direct object pronouns are super tough in Spanish. Generally, you have to put them at the beginning of the sentence--so you have to plan what you are saying a bit more. However, I'm getting more fluid with particular clusters of words that are always going to have a direct/indirect object--such as tell (I told her.)

Feria

13 Nov 2011

Today, another Fulbrighter and I headed up to the northern part of the city--called San Vicente de Raspeig--for a feria--fair.

At the fair, there were different stands selling things like books, food, clothing, and industrial items. We stopped at a couple of stands, but of course, I was a little more interested in the delicious food waiting. There were stands with different cheeses, meats, and a stand with Asturian desserts (yum!). There were also a number of stands selling artisan quality turrón.  

I've found that turrón is sort of difficult to describe accurately. It's a nougat made of honey, sugar, egg white, and almonds. It's really rich--so you wouldn't want to eat very much of it at a time. There are various types of turrón--some with almonds and others with chocolate. It's traditionally consumed around Christmas; however, in Alicante, you can get it whenever you like. Lots of ice cream places have a turrón-flavored ice cream!

I've been waiting to buy turrón since I arrived in Alicante! I had a friend tell me this summer that the best turrón he'd ever eaten had been from Alicante. So, of course, I was curious about this sweet.

Today, I got to try a couple different kinds--so that I could pick out the best kind! While I only bought one brick of turrón today, I plan to buy a few more to send home for the holidays!

Elche, Elche, Elche...

12 Nov 2011

Since I'm planning two bigger trips at the beginning of December, I've decided to take some smaller day trips around the city of Alicante. Today's trip was to Elche (or Elx in valenciano).

Elche is best known for two things: its shoes and its palm trees.

Near Elche, there are countless shoe factories--making it the main supplier for shoes in Spain as well as parts of the rest of Europe. According to urban legend (so who knows whether this is true or not), one of the shoe factories in Elche was shut down. People came to the factory at night and stole the shoe-making machines. They began to make shoes out of their houses and sell them on an underground market.

We didn't visit the shoe outlets on this particular trip. When we reach Elche, we discovered that you can't really take a bus out there (it would require a number of bus changes), and that the best way is to go in a car. We're planning a trip to go to the shoe outlets, but for today we explored Elche's sights and did a little shopping.

Elche is also home to one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites--El Palmeral de Elche (Palm Tree Grove)! This grove has over 200,000 palm trees!

Elche has come up in our visits to various archaeology museums. In the museum in Alicante, they have the famous Dama de Elche--the Lady of Elche. This figure was found by archaeologists around the turn of the 19th century. I guess the Romans who abandoned Lucentum (the Roman ruins by my school) and moved on to Elche--possibly for better trade routes. Archaeologists believe that the figure may be for worship of the Roman goddess Tanit. I haven't actually gotten to see the figure in person because when we visited the museum in Alicante the figure was in Elche's archaeology museum. It's now back at Alicante's museum--so I'll definitely check it out the next time I go to the archaeology museum! 

Language Acquisition

11 Nov 2011

As I've written before, one of the best parts of teaching is when your students use something that you've taught them. However, one of the most amazing parts of teaching is when your students use phrases and grammar that you haven't explicitly taught them.

Elementary school children have minds like sponges. They pick up phrases and grammar so much more easily than we do as adults. I'm currently trying to learn valenciano, and it's hard enough for me to remember the rules that I'm explicitly taught. However, next thing you know, kids are using the phrase or grammatical structure in real conversation without (or with little) explicit instruction.

This difference largely stems from a second language acquisition hypothesis called "critical language period." According to this hypothesis, there is a period in which people are predisposed to learn language. During this period, people rely on innate structures for language acquisition. Depending on the theorist, linguists argue that this period ends some time between the ages of 10 and 14. Once that period ends, people use regular learning structures (like what you use to memorize facts) to acquire language--which is much more difficult than using innate biological structures.
 
As children, they receive input from their parents and the other people around them and make mental hypotheses about how the language works. Then, they try to actually use these structures in communication, and they receive feedback from others. As they get feedback, they go about tweaking their mental theory for how language works.

Take for example how a child learns the word "dog." First, someone probably points to a picture of a four-legged animal with fur that we know as "dog" and says the word "dog." A child has to decide exactly what that means. He or she may postulate that "dog" refers to all furry things and may try to refer to a cat as a "dog." When the child receive more evidence (maybe someone corrects him or her, or someone points to a dog that looks different than the original dog), the child will change his or her definition of "dog." Children do this little by little--acquiring both vocabulary and grammatical structures.

This may sound complicated, but the brain does it without our even being aware of it.

According to one theorist, Krashen, language is acquired* when there is comprehensible input + 1 (i + 1). That is to say, a learner needs input that they can understand plus a bit that is beyond their level.

This is what I'm supposed to provide for my students in the classroom. While I haven't heard anything earth-shattering, today I noticed some of my students using phrases that I haven't taught them but that I commonly use in speaking to them.

One student surprised me by saying, "See ya later!" Another used a phrase I say quite a lot, "Careful, careful, careful..."

I was playing "Go Fish" with a student today. I've been trying to use phrases like "My turn?" or "Your turn?" and other game vocabulary with appropriate gestures. I didn't want to explicitly teach the vocabulary because we are currently focusing on just the numbers and the phrase "Have you got any...?" While I was pondering what card to ask for, I was pleased to hear her tell me, "Your turn"--even though I had never told her what that meant 

It was heart-warming to hear evidence that they are picking up on more than the things I'm explicitly teaching them.



*It is argued that children acquire a language because there is no conscious effort made. Learning a language occurs when someone consciously pays attention to words and rules for grammar.

**For anyone interested in this topic, there is a really good book called How Languages are Learned by Pasty Lightbown and Nina Spada. It's really accessible and goes into some more detail about current theories about second language acquisition.

The art of Flamenco...

10 Nov 2011

As I promised over the weekend, I'm going to share a little of what I know about Flamenco. I'm by no means an expert. This post contains what I've gleaned from my experiences. I've studied a little about Flamenco in one of my undergraduate Spanish classes and I've seen Flamenco "shows" (for lack of a better word) 5 or 6 times.

I'm really interested in writing about Flamenco because I think that it is a misunderstood art. I think there tend to be two stereotypical views about Flamenco: it's an ugly dance where people just stomp around and yell or it's just a dance for Gypsies.

Flamenco has its origins in the south of Spain in the region of Andulucía. Between the 8th and 15th century, Flamenco saw its greatest evolution and development. During this period of Arabic rule in Spain, there was a great mixing of Arabic, Jewish, and Christian cultures, and Flamenco was not unaffected. Arabic, Jewish, Christian, and Gypsy traditions influenced the instruments used and the style of music.

Today, it's very popular outside of Spain. People take Flamenco classes like you would for salsa, waltz, or tango. In fact, I know of a Flamenco school located in the Twin Cities.

It's also continuing to evolve. Flamenco is becoming more "pop." When I was in Spain two years ago, there was a show in Madrid called "Jazz Flamenco," which as it's name suggests was attempting to popularize and perhaps modernize Flamenco.    

Flamenco has three different components--cante (song), baile (dance), and guitarra (guitar). Here you can watch a clip that has cante and guitarra here and a baile by Carmen Amaya here.

There are various types of Flamenco. In my class, we discussed the cante jondo--the deep song. This type of Flamenco is much more serious and deals with themes such as death, pain, alienation, religion, etc. Spanish writer Federico Garcia Lorca was fascinated by the cante jondo and actually wrote a collection of poems entitled Cante jondo. For my class, I read some of his saetas poems--which focus on religious suffering and pain.


The cante jondo isn't "pretty." It's full of emotion and pain, and the song reflects that. Not every note is perfect, and sometimes there are spontaneous sounds. Instead, the most important part of cante jondo is staying true to that emotion and allowing it to guide the singer. Personally, I find this type of Flamenco more interesting than the staged shows for tourists. A good cantaor (singer) can give you goosebumps and make you want to cry.

Here's an example of a cante jondo. 

American accents, continued.

9 Nov 2011

With my 6th grade class, I followed up on the discussion about American accents by showing them a clip of a documentary called American Tongues. In the clip, you can hear people from all over the US reciting part of "Mary had a Little Lamb."  I wasn't sure how well there were going to be able to tell the difference between accents, but they were able to hear the difference between the Southern accent and the New York accent.

My 6th graders just started a new chapter about Sightseeing in London, and they're working on comparatives. So after taking about accents, we played a game (it's actually an activity, but I call all activities games) in order to practice comparatives called Who am I?. I created a powerpoint slide with pictures of a variety of English-speakers--like Barack Obama, Daniel Radcliffe, and Hilary Clinton. I included their heights and ages as a reference for the students.

Then, I asked for a student volunteer and asked everyone to choose one of the six figures on the board. I told them to write three sentences about this person while comparing him or her to the student volunteer. One sentence should be about their height. The second sentence should be about their age. The third sentence had to include some sort of description--like hair color or eye color.

For example: I'm taller than Juan. I'm older than Juan. I've got brown hair and brown eyes. Who am I?

The activity went really well--since it was more straightforward than some of the activities that I plan.

Barack Obama ended up being really popular with the students!

Elections

8 Nov 2011

Although the elections in the United States have been on my mind a lot lately, this blog post isn't actually about politics in the US. Instead, I'm going to write about the upcoming elections in Spain--which are less than two weeks away!

On November 20 (20-N as they say here), Spaniards will vote for new representatives in the Congress of Deputies as well as the Senate. However, the most important vote will be for the new Prime Minister of Spain.

The current Prime Minister is Luis Zapatero--member of Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol (PSOE). Zapatero and his political party has become increasingly criticized over the last year or so because the economic situation in Spain isn't improving. In fact, Spain has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe at 21.29%.

As in the US, this year's election is highly polarized with only two real candidates--Mariano Rajoy (representing the Partido Popular) and Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (representing the Partido Socialista Obrero Espanol).

Last night, there was a political debate between Rajoy and Rubalcaba. The headlines in the paper today said it all. "Rajoy confunde a Rubalcaba con Zapatero y Rubalcaba trata a Rajoy como si fuera el presidente" or Rajoy confuses Rubalcaba with Zapatero and Rubalcaba treats Rajoy as if he were president."

The general reaction (of newspapers and the general public) was that Rubalcaba wasn't as confident in the debate. His body language showed that he was nervous, and he made a number of grammatical errors and stuttered in his speech.

Given the current opinions of Zapatero and PSOE, many people think that Rajoy will be elected as a sort of backlash against the political party.

We'll see how everything turns out on election day!

Mission Accomplished!

7 Nov 2011

After months (two months) of writing about the NIE (the identity card for foreigners), I have finally gotten it! I didn't even have too many problems.

I woke up a little bit earlier this morning so I could get to the police station before the big rush at 10-ish. I only had a small issue with the bus. I was conflicted about where I should catch the bus. There was a stop pretty close to my apartment and the stop that I took last time (that takes you a little farther in the route). While I was reading the map, an old Spanish man asked if I needed help. I explained that I was trying to decide if I should walk up to the other stop or just catch the bus there. He convinced me that it was just as well to catch it there. Little did I know that the end of the line was just two stops in when you catch the bus there. So I had to get off the bus, and get back on the bus ten minutes later.

I wouldn't have been so mad about this if where I had to get off hadn't been within easy walking distance of my apartment.

Once I got on the bus again, everything was smooth sailing (about time!). I got to the police station, and there was only one person in front of me. I waited all of two minutes and it was my turn. The man handed me my NIE, and I was done.

I only had a small moment of panic when I looked at the expiration date. It said 04/09/2012. For an American, this date reads: April 9th, 2012. However, in Europe, this date is: September 4th, 2012. So I just had a moment in which I forgot which way the date was supposed to be read because I go back and forth between which way I write it.

Regardless, I have my NIE and I'm set until September!

Granada, ciudad encantadora...

6 Nov 2011

This morning, we started the day out right with some chocolate con churros. Two of the people we met at our hostel had never tried it before. We decided that we need to fix that right away!

After breakfast, we wandered around the city for a while before our appointment at the Arabic Baths. As we were walking along the river, an American couple recognized the name of my college from the sweatshirt I was wearing. He said that he had gone to a rival liberal arts school so he was familiar with my college. Then, he asked us what we were doing in Granada. When we told him we were here with Fulbright, he told us that he had also been a Fulbrighter back in the day! What a small world, huh?

We continued walking along the river toward Sacromonte. In Sacromonte, there are houses that are built into the mountain so they are essentially caves. I don't want to give the wrong impression. These caves are completely modern. They have electricity, water, and internet--anything a regular house would have. These just happen to be built into the mountain. Below is the picture of the outside of a cave house.

At 12, we had our appointment at the Arabic Baths. This was really fun and relaxing--even though it didn't exactly start out that way. Unfortunately, one of the bath attendants told me that I couldn't wear my bathing suit to the bath. I don't have a bikini or a regular one piece. Apparently, my swim suit looked too much like a dress and had too much material (ironic in an ARABIC bath). So I had to buy a new suit from them.

I was pretty mad about it for a while, but I got over it quickly because the baths were AMAZING! At the baths, you start out in the room temperature water and then alternate between the cold and hot baths. The idea is that the cold water constricts your blood vessels, and when you move to the hot water, it allows them to expand. This is supposed to improve circulation. In between soaks, you can drink some delicious tea.

I have to admit I was pretty shocked when I got into the cold bath. I was expecting it to be sort of like an outdoor American pool--where it's a little chilly but not unbearable. Nope. This water was ice cold. The first time I could only dip my legs in up to my knees before I found it unbearable and ran to the hot water. After the initial shock wore off, the next time I entered the cold bath, I was able to sit down in the water up to my shoulders for a minute or two. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when the water's that cold you are counting down the seconds. And the longer I spent in the cold bath, the better the warm bath felt. By the end, I felt like I was in heaven and I didn't want to leave to get on a bus for 5 hours.

But we had to leave anyway. All in all, I think that Granada is likely one of my favorite cities in the world. It's really beautiful, but also has a lot of character and personality. I'm planning on visiting again in the spring--so I can see the city when it isn't cold and rainy and so I can see all the flowers in bloom at the Alhambra.

Granada me encanta

5 Nov 2011

I left this morning at 3:20 AM for Granada. By bus, it takes about 5 hours to reach Granada from Alicante. Fortunately, I was able to doze most of the way so I wasn't too tired when I arrived at 8:30 AM.

At the bus station, I caught a taxi to go to the Alhambra--Granada's famous Arabic palace. As some of you may know, I don't really like riding in taxis--especially by myself. It's a fear that's a little irrational, but it can be easy to be taken advantage of in a foreign country.

However, today, my taxi driver was super nice. He told me that it was a shame that I was visiting Granada this weekend because the weather wasn't too good. It was cold and rainy, but he told me that it shouldn't rain too much today so I should be okay for my visit to the Alhambra.

I've become accustomed to telling people that I'm from the Midwest. Any time I say my home state, I just get blank looks. So when the taxi driver asked me where I was from, I was surprised that he actually was familiar with my home state--you know "the West," "pistols," and "cowboys"!  He asked me if it was still like that. I had to admit to him that there are no longer outlaws in my state--other than the ones that dress up for the tourists!

At 9 AM, I met up with two other Fulbrighters at the Alhambra, and we entered the gardens surrounding the palace. This area is called the Generalife (Garden of the Architect) Gardens but also includes the Generalife Palace. These gardens and palace were constructed around 1300. The palace was meant to be a retreat for the Nasrid rulers.

 

 Next, in order to escape the cold, we entered the Palace of Carlos V.  This palace was build in 1527 (symbolically situated) right next to the Nasrid Palace built by the Arabs. Inside the middle of the palace, there is a circular patio. On the first floor, there is a museum with artifacts found around the Alhambra--such as pottery, coins, clay toys, etc. One of the most interesting parts of the exhibit was the excavation of a water channel built during Christian occupation of the fortress. Apparently, when archaeologists examined the water channels later, they discovered that later Christians used Arabic tombstones in the construction of water channels.

The Palace of Carlos V also houses the Museum of Art for the Alhambra. We didn't visit this museum because it had an additional fee, and we were running out of time. On the second floor, there was an exhibition about Owen Jones--a British architect who became fascinated by the Alhambra. He came to Granada to study the Alhambra and eventually created many buildings in England imitating the style of the Alhambra. 

After the Palace of Carlos V and a visit to Customer Service, we finally made it to the Nasrid Palace--the heart of the Alhambra! This palace was built around 1330 at the end of the rule of the Nasrid dynasty. The Palace is composed of three parts: the Mexuar Palace, the Comares Palace, and the Palace of the Lions. 

The Mexuar Palace was mostly used for administrative and governmental purposes. The Oratory (connected to the Mexuar Palace) was used for worship. 

The Comares Palace was the intermediary between the public and private areas of the Alhambra. It is here--sitting at the top of the stairs--that the ruler met with his vassals and held audiences with petitioners.

The Palace of the Lions is perhaps the most iconic of the Alhambra's sights. It includes the Patio of the Lions--which has 12 lion statues (each a little different) that form a fountain. Unfortunately (as well as fortunately), they are working on renovating the Patio of the Lions so we couldn't see the fountain in all of its glory. Instead, there is a small exhibit showing the restored lions. If you look closely, you can notice the differences between the 12 lions. I found that the differences tended to be in the mouth, the mane, and the feet. 

After visiting the palace, we strolled through the upper Generalife palace. As we prepared to leave the Alhambra, it started to rain--so we went in search of a dry place and warm food! 

Next, we checked into our hostel--Makuto Backpackers--and went on a walking tour of the city. Rather, I should say that we went on a walking tour of the old city--the Albaicín. This part of the city is full of small, narrow, winding streets. It's like a labyrinth! When we were on our own, we got lost every time! The Albaicín has the best views in Granada, and we stopped at a few to take in the spectacular view of the Alhambra and the lower city. Our guide told us that Albaicín is the most expensive part of the city to live in. Everyone wants to be able to say that they have a view of the Alhambra from their apartment. So people sometimes share these apartments with 3 or 4 other people! 

 This part of the city also had some of the most amazing graffiti. The picture below was one of the most impressive ones. You walk down this set of stairs, and you turn around and see this painted on the side of the stairs.

Finally, we went out for some tapas and a flamenco show. I've been to other flamenco shows in the past, and this one was alright in comparison. I write about what I know about flamenco on another day. This show just lacked a little bit of spontaneity and some of the depth of emotion. However, the cantaor made up for it because he was a character! He was a little old man and looked like someone's grandpa. Later, he got up a did a short and furious dance. I was scared he was going to have a heart attack! Turned out he just had a little bit of spunk.

Linguistic Sidenote

gota fría--literally, "cold drop." However, this is a really bad translation because it doesn't capture what it is. This is a torrential rain shower that only happens in one place. As far as I'm aware, it's a phrase only used in the Community of Valencia.

te toca--literally: it touches you. It is used to mean it's your turn.

cerro--there isn't really an English word for this. It's a hill that is more than a hill but less than a mountain. 

Anticipation for the weekend!

4 Nov 2011

Even though today wasn't any longer than a typical school day, it seemed to go on forever. Part of this feeling stemmed from my excitement for this weekend's trip. The other source for today feeling like an eternity was the fact that I know that I'm going to have to wake up at 3 AM tomorrow morning for said trip. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely excited about this trip because it's been on my "to do list" since the first time I visited Spain. I just would have rather taken a bus a little earlier in this evening.

I am a little (just a teensy bit) sad to be missing Alicante for this weekend in particular. The Volvo Ocean Race is set to start tomorrow, and Alicante is the opening port city. This year's course is approximately 44,739 miles--covering some of the world's most dangerous waters. Teams from all over the world compete in this race. Each team has 11 people--all of whom are professional sailors (two have to have medical training!). You really have to be a professional because these are really extreme conditions. In order to compete, you sometimes have to sail 20 days straight until you reach the next port city.

While it would be fun to see the start of the race, I'm glad to be heading to Granada! This is my 3rd time in Spain, and it's about time that I get the chance to visit this city!

American accents

3 Nov 2011

I knew the day would come when my students would ask me about my accent. I've been waiting for it because for the first couple weeks I was at the school the older students giggled when they heard me talk. I'm just surprised it took this long.

While I was reading a text aloud to my students, one student raised her hand. She asked me, "Why doesn't your pronunciation sound like the tape?"

In turn, I asked her if she knew where I was from. (A valid question because not all of the students know.) I explained that the tape for their English book has a British accent and I have an American accent.

Then, the teacher pointed out my pronunciation of various words--like Britain. With my accent, it sounds more like "Britin." A few weeks ago, my other teacher noticed the difference in the way that I pronounce my numbers. I don't over-enunciate them. Instead, they sound more like "seven-dy," "eight-dy," and "nine-dy."

This led to a mini-lecture on accents. My host teacher reminded them that a Spanish accent is different than a Mexican accent. Even within Spain, a accent from Andalucia is very different from an accent from Galicia.

I told them that it was the same in the United States and preceded to do a terrible imitation of a Bostonian accent. My teacher supplied the Southern accent--which probably gave students a bad impression of Southerners.

After class, a bunch of the students asked me questions about things that they had "heard" that people say in America. One student asked me about "wanna" and if I use it. Someone asked me about what a Canadian accent sounds like. They are so curious about America, but we haven't had an opportunity where they could ask me to their hearts' content.

Ratoncito Peréz

2 Nov 2011

One of my students lost a tooth over the weekend, and I asked her if the tooth fairy came to visit her. She was confused by my mention of the tooth fairy, and someone explained to me that there is a different tradition in Spain for when you lose a tooth.

Instead of the tooth fairy, they have Ratoncito Peréz (Little Mouse Peréz). When a child loses a tooth, he or she places it under their pillow. They may optionally leave out some cheese--if they'd like Ratoncito Peréz to bring them something really good--in the same way we bribe Santa with cookies and milk. Ratoncito Peréz visits the child's house and exchanges the tooth for a gift. My student got a neat book about Ratoncito Peréz!


In the original tale (which dates back to 1894), Ratoncito Peréz lives with his family in the city of Madrid. Ratoncito Peréz, being a bit of a wild mouse, frequently leaves their house (a box of cookies) to wander around the city and sneak into the houses of children who had lost teeth.

The story was written by Luis Coloma for Alfonso XIII (the future king) when he was just 8. In the main plot, Ratoncito Peréz visits King Buby I (incidentally the nickname Alfonso XIII's mother gave him). Ratoncito Peréz is depicted as a noble knight. When Ratoncito Peréz visits King Buby I, he wakes him up and turns him into a mouse so that he can show King Buby a side of the city that he doesn't know. As they go through the city, King Buby sees the poverty of some of its citizens.

All Saints' Day

1 Nov 2011

While November 1st isn't a holiday in the United States, in Spain, it's a festival day for All Saints' Day. For this reason, today we didn't have school, and most shops were closed.

On All Saint's Day, families in Spain visit the cemetery to go to the graves of their loved ones. Typically, people will take the time to clean off the grave and leave flowers for the deceased.

Special pastries are also made. In a bakery in Murcia, I saw huesos de santos (saint bones)--which are made out of marzipan and cream.

I find this festival interesting when compared to the general attitude toward death in the US. I feel like the subject is taboo in the States, and we try to avoid the topic because it makes us uncomfortable. I'm not sure how many people visit the graves of their loved ones, but there isn't really a special day in the US where it would be traditional to do so. My family has a tradition of visiting and tending the family graves over Memorial Day, but I wouldn't say that this is necessarily very typical of most American families.

However, from what I've observed/learned about aspects of Spanish culture, there is a greater awareness (or perhaps I should say sensitivity) of death in Spain. Take for example bullfighting. When the bullfighter stands before the bull, he is confronting (the possibility of) death head on. Nothing but his skill and athleticism can prevent the bull from killing him.

Halloween!

31 Oct 2011

The celebrating of Halloween in Spain has been more of a recent development. According to one of the teachers at my school, it is only within the last five years that Halloween has caught on--even then only in the subdivisions. Even so, not many people dress up, and trick or treating is typically only done within people's subdivisions. There also isn't a lot of variety in costumes--most kids dress up as a witch, a ghost, the devil, etc.

Instead of celebrating Halloween the traditional way (with costumes, trick or treating, etc), I decided to bake and later I went shopping.

One of the foods I've missed the most since arriving in Spain has been bagels. I know that sounds weird, but the only type of breakfast I usually eat is a bagel with cream cheese. However, you can't find bagels in any of the supermarkets or bakeries--I've looked. In fact, I looked up the word for bagel in the dictionary and it doesn't really exist. They can be called: tipo de panecillo which means a type of bread roll.

So I decided to try to make them in my apartment. Ultimately, they turned out alright. My bagels are very pretty but they taste like real bagels. This was a relief because I didn't have measuring spoons for Tablespoons or teaspoons so I had to guess--which is not what you want to do while baking.

They weren't that hard to make, and I think that I'll get better at it over time. I'll post some pictures of the next batch--hopefully, they'll look more like bagels than the ones I just made.

After finishing the bagels, I decided to make tacos and chilli. The tacos were a snap, and so I moved on to the chilli. I had some difficulties with the chilli because some of the ingredients were hard to track down and so I had to substitute. For example, I've looked in more than one supermarket, but I can't find any chilli powder--so I had to substitute with something else. All in all, the chilli was a bit of a fiasco. I used a heavy hand with the spices, and it ended up being way to spicy.

After I finished cleaning up the kitchen, I went to the mall in order to finally buy some boots. I've been looking for a pair for a while now, but I haven't been able to find exactly what I wanted. I managed to find a cute pair in Joyca. Although they were a little expensive, I'm hopeful that they will last longer than if I'd bought a cheap pair.

While at the mall, I was surprised to see that Christmas stuff is already up. In fact, in AlCampo, they had already taken down all of the Halloween stuff in order to put out Christmas things. I know that Christmas decorations go out early in the States, but usually Thanksgiving serves as a bit of a buffer. Since they don't observed Thanksgiving here, I guess this means I can officially listen to Christmas music now!

Murcia!

30 Oct 2011

In Spain, Daylight Saving Time comes a week earlier than in the US--which meant that I got to sleep an extra hour before getting up early to take the bus to Murcia!

Murcia isn't really a big tourist destination in Spain, but it's supposed to be really beautiful. Most people want to go to cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, etc. So for me, Murcia held a mysterious allure as a city not often inundated with tourists (as Alicante and Benidorm are).  

Murcia is pretty close to Alicante--just an hour south--so we took the bus to get there. The ride was beautiful. Murcia is surrounded by small mountains.

When we arrived in Murcia, we didn't really have a plan for what we were going to do in Murcia. Nor did we have a map. We knew that we wanted to see the Cathedral, and I was interested in seeing the Archaeological Museum. Basically, we started wandering around--knowing that eventually we'd find what we were looking for.

First, we walked through the Botanical Gardens. This area was definitely pretty, but it didn't really have a garden-y feel. We saw a number of plaques with information about birds on them--which is when I learned that Murcia is the bird-watching capital of Spain. This makes sense because I could actually hear different birds chirping in Murcia--instead of the usual pigeon coos and sea gull screeches.

We continued walking along and found a neat suspension bridge. The suspension bridge gave us a view of another bridge (that looked Roman in origin) and some ruins near the water (which looked Arabic based on the way in which the arches were constructed).

Eventually, we found the tourism office--which is basically hidden. I think you'd need a map in order to find it. With our map in hand, we easily found the Archaeological Museum. It wasn't as impressive as the museum in Alicante, but it still had some cool stuff. The Roman mosaics here were maybe even better than the ones in Alicante. We couldn't really figure out what the artifact that looks like a foot was for.

Next we headed to one of two gardens (though park would be a better word) located in the northwest part of town in order to wait for the lunch hour. The park was delightful. It had real trees (in Alicante, we only have palm trees) and areas with grass (which we also don't have much of in Alicante). I was really tempted to lay down in the grass to take a nap--just to feel grass again--but ultimately decided against it.

After lunch, we finished our day at the Cathedral. The outside is really impressive--which incredible statues and carvings. Inside, there was a very pretty chapel in the front that had some very detailed stone carvings.