23 May 2012
Some days, you just need to unwind after a difficult day. Today, I definitely needed some tapas therapy with my friends.
My day wasn't actually that trying until after school.
Every Wednesday, I head to a café near my school--mostly to have a little down time and to plan some lessons. There, I have my merienda (snack), and I chill out for an hour and a half watching a program called Sálvame. This show is a cross between a talk show like The View and Jerry Springer.
The show mostly focuses on celebrity news (they seem to have a particular fondness for the bullfighter Jose Ortega Cano; they haven't stopped discussing his son's relationship with a woman 15 years his senior) as well as the lives of the personalities on the show.
I have to confess that the first time I saw the show I thought it was pretty ridiculous--admittedly I still feel that way. However, it's become part of my Wednesday routine.
My troubles began after I left the café and was promptly run down by a 5-year-old on a bike. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but this kid had either terrible steering or terrible sight because he just ran into me. Afterwards, I asked him if he was alright, he nodded, and biked away without a word or apology.
On the tram ride into the city center, I was reading a book and heard a noise that sounded like a gunshot. It turned out that someone had thrown a rock at the tram. It cracked a window, but thankfully the glass didn't break and no one was hurt.
I got home to my apartment and was ready to chill for the night. Unfortunately, I walked into the kitchen and found the typical mini-disaster that someone decided to leave for me to fix. Not everyone I live with is like this, but I do live with a couple of people who don't really know what to do when there is a problem so they pretend like it never happened. It's left to the rest of us to resolve these problems or call the landlady when it's a bigger problem.
While these may not seem like big problems, after a long day at work, I felt like I was hecho polvo (beat). Hanging out with my friends and going out for tapas (Spanish appetizers) seemed like the best way to make the most of a bad night!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
La educación no es un gasto. Es una inversión. No a los recortes!
22 May 2012
As I mentioned last week, teachers in Alicante are striking for 6 days this month in order to protest cuts being made in education. Today marked the 3rd day of said striking and it has been by far the most successful. When I arrived at school today, it was virtually deserted. The only people who were there were the teachers that had to be there to offer minimal services for the students who came to school. Neither of my host teachers came today so I used the time to finish up some projects that I'd put off.
For the first time, educators from all levels (from preschool to university) from nearly every Comunidad (Spain is divided into 17 comunidades) banded together to protest cuts being made in education.
Various forms of protest have taken place all over the country.
University and high school students in various communities staged sit-ins on their campuses. They brought sleeping bags with them and camped out overnight. In Catalunya, students were able to convince Ferrocarrils to not allow any trains to stop at the University of Barcelona until 11 AM. Of course, there were also many large protests in bigger cities such as Madrid (80,000 people), Barcelona (150,000 people), and Valencia. Alicante also held a protest against cuts being made in education.
The teaching unions estimate that an average of approximately 80% of teachers participated in today's protest. In Alicante, it's estimated that 60% of educators (55% in primary schools, 65% in secondary schools, and 50% at the university) and 80% of students are striking.
For the most part, the protests have been peaceful. However, there have been students and educators that have been detained.
It's estimated that around 7.5 million students were effected by the strike--with 6 million of those students being primary or secondary students.
As I mentioned last week, teachers in Alicante are striking for 6 days this month in order to protest cuts being made in education. Today marked the 3rd day of said striking and it has been by far the most successful. When I arrived at school today, it was virtually deserted. The only people who were there were the teachers that had to be there to offer minimal services for the students who came to school. Neither of my host teachers came today so I used the time to finish up some projects that I'd put off.
For the first time, educators from all levels (from preschool to university) from nearly every Comunidad (Spain is divided into 17 comunidades) banded together to protest cuts being made in education.
Various forms of protest have taken place all over the country.
University and high school students in various communities staged sit-ins on their campuses. They brought sleeping bags with them and camped out overnight. In Catalunya, students were able to convince Ferrocarrils to not allow any trains to stop at the University of Barcelona until 11 AM. Of course, there were also many large protests in bigger cities such as Madrid (80,000 people), Barcelona (150,000 people), and Valencia. Alicante also held a protest against cuts being made in education.
The teaching unions estimate that an average of approximately 80% of teachers participated in today's protest. In Alicante, it's estimated that 60% of educators (55% in primary schools, 65% in secondary schools, and 50% at the university) and 80% of students are striking.
For the most part, the protests have been peaceful. However, there have been students and educators that have been detained.
It's estimated that around 7.5 million students were effected by the strike--with 6 million of those students being primary or secondary students.
Spanish banking woes...
21 May 2012
After the partial nationalization of Bankia earlier this month, the Spanish government was hoping that the banking crisis was going to turn around.
However, on Friday, the credit rating agency Moody's downgraded 16 of Spain's banks. Among these banks are two of the largest banks in Spain--Santander and BBVA. According to Moody's, the agency doesn't believe that the Spanish government has the resources necessary to provide adequate stability for Spanish banks at this time. They stated that during the 1st quarter of 2012 the Spanish economy was back in a recession and they did not expect this status to change (at least this year).
After the partial nationalization of Bankia earlier this month, the Spanish government was hoping that the banking crisis was going to turn around.
However, on Friday, the credit rating agency Moody's downgraded 16 of Spain's banks. Among these banks are two of the largest banks in Spain--Santander and BBVA. According to Moody's, the agency doesn't believe that the Spanish government has the resources necessary to provide adequate stability for Spanish banks at this time. They stated that during the 1st quarter of 2012 the Spanish economy was back in a recession and they did not expect this status to change (at least this year).
Friday, June 8, 2012
Bucket list: Learn to make a good paella... Check!
20 May 2012
Today, I had yet another opportunity to cross an item off my bucket list. Since I'm living in the Community of Valencia--home of paella--I've been wanting to learn how to make a good paella. Especially since there will be a dearth of paella when I get back to the States.
When I mentioned my desire to learn how to make a paella a couple of weeks ago, my language exchange partner told me that his mother would probably be willing to teach me.
So today we went out to the country so I could learn how to make a paella! It's a time consuming process and you have to have a lot of patience. However, it's definitely worth it!
I can't share the secrets of all that I learned. I'm hoping that with some practice I can make a paella that tastes like the one we ate today!
Today, I had yet another opportunity to cross an item off my bucket list. Since I'm living in the Community of Valencia--home of paella--I've been wanting to learn how to make a good paella. Especially since there will be a dearth of paella when I get back to the States.
When I mentioned my desire to learn how to make a paella a couple of weeks ago, my language exchange partner told me that his mother would probably be willing to teach me.
So today we went out to the country so I could learn how to make a paella! It's a time consuming process and you have to have a lot of patience. However, it's definitely worth it!
I can't share the secrets of all that I learned. I'm hoping that with some practice I can make a paella that tastes like the one we ate today!
Bucket List: La isla de Tabarca... check!
19 May 2012
For a while now, I've wanted to visit an island located off the coast of Alicante. This weekend, some of my American friends and I finally went to the island of Tabarca. The ferry (the only one of the day until June) left Alicante at 11:15 AM and it only took us around 45 minutes to arrive on the island.
The island is technically part of the city of Alicante, and at last count, it has 68 inhabitants. Even so, this makes it the largest inhabited island in the Community of Valencia. According to our waiter at lunch, there can be thousands of people on the island during the summer, and during the winter there are typically only around 10 people (mostly older folks) who stick around.
Throughout the centuries, the island has served as a haven for pirates--such as the Barbary pirates. In the 18th century, the island was conquered by the king of Tunisia. He imprisoned all of the inhabitants of the island. However, they were later freed by Carlos III of Spain. Most of the inhabitants stayed on the island and Tabarca was converted into a military post.
The island was beautiful! The water is exceptionally clear and so you can see everything in the water. This is one of the reasons that Tabarca has been designated as a marine reserve. There are various protected species that live around the island such as sea bass, grouper, conger eel, gilthead.
Since the waters are so clear, we wanted to go snorkeling to see what types of fish we could see. Unfortunately, the water is still a little too cold to be in for a long time, and we didn't have the right gear. However, I'm sure that we'll come back some other day to check it out.
For a while now, I've wanted to visit an island located off the coast of Alicante. This weekend, some of my American friends and I finally went to the island of Tabarca. The ferry (the only one of the day until June) left Alicante at 11:15 AM and it only took us around 45 minutes to arrive on the island.The island is technically part of the city of Alicante, and at last count, it has 68 inhabitants. Even so, this makes it the largest inhabited island in the Community of Valencia. According to our waiter at lunch, there can be thousands of people on the island during the summer, and during the winter there are typically only around 10 people (mostly older folks) who stick around.
Throughout the centuries, the island has served as a haven for pirates--such as the Barbary pirates. In the 18th century, the island was conquered by the king of Tunisia. He imprisoned all of the inhabitants of the island. However, they were later freed by Carlos III of Spain. Most of the inhabitants stayed on the island and Tabarca was converted into a military post.
The island was beautiful! The water is exceptionally clear and so you can see everything in the water. This is one of the reasons that Tabarca has been designated as a marine reserve. There are various protected species that live around the island such as sea bass, grouper, conger eel, gilthead.
Since the waters are so clear, we wanted to go snorkeling to see what types of fish we could see. Unfortunately, the water is still a little too cold to be in for a long time, and we didn't have the right gear. However, I'm sure that we'll come back some other day to check it out.
Selectividad
17 May 2012
During my language exchange in the last several weeks, we've been comparing the Spanish and American university systems. One of the topics that has come up in these sessions (as well as one I've heard about from parents at school) has been Selectividad. Selectividad is the Spanish version of the ACT or SAT, and the test date is fast approaching.
Selectividad is taken by students who have finished instituto (high school) and plan to attend university. It consists of six 90 minute tests which are taken over the course of three days in either June or September. I remember taking the ACT and the SAT, and I thought those were bad! But Selectividad is almost three times as long!
The test consists of two parts. The first part is required of all students who take Selectividad and it tests all subjects covered in school--such as Spanish, English (or the foreign language that they took in instituto), history, Valencian/Basque/Galician (depending on the region), and whatever subject you want to specialize in. The second part (and non-compulsory) allows you to choose 2 to 4 specific subject tests. These tests can help students to increase their final score.
Before, students were graded on a scale of 1 to 10--as is common in the Spanish schooling system. The final score was the average of all of the tests combined. Now, scores are weighted depending on what the student plans to study at university.
I don't know much about the exam itself, but I've been looking at old English tests.
The English part of the exam is completely focused on reading and writing. The first part of the exam is reading comprehension. Students must answer some multiple choice questions, short answer, and true and false questions about the text that they are given. Then, they write a short response of 100-150 words about topics related to the text.
From what I've heard, the test can be a bit tricky because the texts that are chosen are a little random. I've read a few of the texts used in previous years and I found that the texts use language that is a little awkward. It's all technically correct (and from native English sources) but would be more challenging for a non-native speaker.
Such as the following quote: "I'd say myself that Glasgow is a crazy football city; there aren't many Glaswegians who don't support one or other of our two big professional teams, Rangers or Celtic. And the football results in the evening papers are a lot more important to many people that what's happening in the rest of the world.... Well, when the two clubs were founded they both had religious connections, which probably sounds a funny thing for football."
During my language exchange in the last several weeks, we've been comparing the Spanish and American university systems. One of the topics that has come up in these sessions (as well as one I've heard about from parents at school) has been Selectividad. Selectividad is the Spanish version of the ACT or SAT, and the test date is fast approaching.
Selectividad is taken by students who have finished instituto (high school) and plan to attend university. It consists of six 90 minute tests which are taken over the course of three days in either June or September. I remember taking the ACT and the SAT, and I thought those were bad! But Selectividad is almost three times as long!
The test consists of two parts. The first part is required of all students who take Selectividad and it tests all subjects covered in school--such as Spanish, English (or the foreign language that they took in instituto), history, Valencian/Basque/Galician (depending on the region), and whatever subject you want to specialize in. The second part (and non-compulsory) allows you to choose 2 to 4 specific subject tests. These tests can help students to increase their final score.
Before, students were graded on a scale of 1 to 10--as is common in the Spanish schooling system. The final score was the average of all of the tests combined. Now, scores are weighted depending on what the student plans to study at university.
I don't know much about the exam itself, but I've been looking at old English tests.
The English part of the exam is completely focused on reading and writing. The first part of the exam is reading comprehension. Students must answer some multiple choice questions, short answer, and true and false questions about the text that they are given. Then, they write a short response of 100-150 words about topics related to the text.
From what I've heard, the test can be a bit tricky because the texts that are chosen are a little random. I've read a few of the texts used in previous years and I found that the texts use language that is a little awkward. It's all technically correct (and from native English sources) but would be more challenging for a non-native speaker.
Such as the following quote: "I'd say myself that Glasgow is a crazy football city; there aren't many Glaswegians who don't support one or other of our two big professional teams, Rangers or Celtic. And the football results in the evening papers are a lot more important to many people that what's happening in the rest of the world.... Well, when the two clubs were founded they both had religious connections, which probably sounds a funny thing for football."
Huelga en educación
16 May 2012
Teachers here in Alicante are still fighting for an end to the cuts being made in education. Today, the teachers held the first of six days of strike this month.
In the fall, it was first announced that the teachers wages would be cut. Teacher's salaries are going to be cut by approximately 200 euros a month. They have to work more (since class sizes are also increasing) but get paid less. The government is also essentially freezing salaries. Before, teachers could take enrichment classes and attend conferences in order to eventually get a raise.
Considering teachers make around 1800 euros a month, this is a significant cut. In order to protest these cuts, in the fall, teachers decided to stop offer extra services such as field trips (with the exception of the trips at the end of the cycle). Parents were upset by this and (at least some) started to also participate in the teachers' weekly protests.
Since nothing has come out of these measures, the teachers decided to step it up and begin striking. Not all of the teachers are striking each of these days--since the will lose 200 euros from their salaries for each day that they strike! Today, around half of the teachers were out on strike and most of the teachers who did come to school were only offering minimal services (aka the kids played on the playground all day).
We'll see if these strikes have the desired effect.
More than anything, I feel bad for the kids. They are the innocent victims in this whole tragedy. I understand that the teachers are unhappy about the cuts--I would be too. Unfortunately, the Valencian government just doesn't have any money and so money has to be cut somewhere. I'm not saying it should come from education. In fact, I think that education and health care are the last two places cuts should ever be made.
However, it's the kids who are losing out on activities and class days.
Teachers here in Alicante are still fighting for an end to the cuts being made in education. Today, the teachers held the first of six days of strike this month.
In the fall, it was first announced that the teachers wages would be cut. Teacher's salaries are going to be cut by approximately 200 euros a month. They have to work more (since class sizes are also increasing) but get paid less. The government is also essentially freezing salaries. Before, teachers could take enrichment classes and attend conferences in order to eventually get a raise.
Considering teachers make around 1800 euros a month, this is a significant cut. In order to protest these cuts, in the fall, teachers decided to stop offer extra services such as field trips (with the exception of the trips at the end of the cycle). Parents were upset by this and (at least some) started to also participate in the teachers' weekly protests.
Since nothing has come out of these measures, the teachers decided to step it up and begin striking. Not all of the teachers are striking each of these days--since the will lose 200 euros from their salaries for each day that they strike! Today, around half of the teachers were out on strike and most of the teachers who did come to school were only offering minimal services (aka the kids played on the playground all day).
We'll see if these strikes have the desired effect.
More than anything, I feel bad for the kids. They are the innocent victims in this whole tragedy. I understand that the teachers are unhappy about the cuts--I would be too. Unfortunately, the Valencian government just doesn't have any money and so money has to be cut somewhere. I'm not saying it should come from education. In fact, I think that education and health care are the last two places cuts should ever be made.
However, it's the kids who are losing out on activities and class days.
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