One of the interesting things about becoming bilingual is language interference. Some people, and by some people I mean Liz, told me that when I studied abroad 3 years ago my English was awful. I spent so much time speaking in Spanish that my syntax and grammar in English paid the price. I think (and hope!) that now my written English isn't as problematic because I still write analytically in English at work and use English in a professional setting. Needless to say I still have times when I say something like "the names of the children" which isn't wrong, but not as common as "the children's names," because in Spanish it's always "los nombres de los niños" and your brain becomes so accustomed to saying it that you have a hard time switching back out.
The other type of English problem is when you forget that someone you're speaking to doesn't speak English as a first language. In Madrid you rarely think someone is fluent in English because few people are. Lara's fiancée and one of her roommates speak English so well that I do forget they're not completely fluent. Sometimes it means explaining a word. Sometimes it means correcting pronunciation. Sometimes it means we know what they're trying to say but we can't think of the word in English. But sometimes things just go wrong. And sometimes we pronounce a word in the other language because it's just funnier that way...but then no one knows if you're being silly or really don't know how to pronounce it.
Yesterday I was talking to one of Lara's roommates in Spanish and I said something about missing my perrita (I do miss Ginger Lee Rogers a whole lot!).
Me: y le dejé a mi perrita!
Roommate: You miss your poopy?
Me: *laugh* puppy?
Roommate: ... puppy.
Me: *laugh* did you mean to say poopy as a joke? Because it's really funny. Or did you mispronounce puppy?
Roommate: I'M NOT A NATIVE SPEAKER! I meant puppy.
And then there were a lot of puppy/poopy jokes.
Or sometimes you see other people make a mistake in their own language and you're glad it's not you...
Coworker1: o tomo vino o me ando por Serrano [either I have a glass of wine or I'll walk myself down Serrano street]
Coworker2: pero por qué meas por la calle? [why are you going to pee on the street?]
1: Cómo? O me tomo vino o me ando por Serrano.[huh? Either I have a class of wine or I'll walk myself down Serrano]
2: Pero por qué meas??? [But why are you peeing?]
1: Me ando ... ooooh! meando! no no no me voy caminando!!!! [I walk myself ... ohhhhhh peeing! no no no I'll go walking!]
Apparently my coworker was misusing the verb andar which means to walk which is always, I walk, not I walk myself. But she said I walk myself which sound the same as the Spanish word for peeing.
In other news, today was Taco Monday which was apparently very exciting. Every now and then the embassy has a special food day, and while the tacos certainly weren't Mexican they were delicious. And a valiente attempt at Mexican food in a country where spicy food doesn't exist and tortilla means omelette.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Nightlife
When I got back to Madrid I really thought that I wouldn't be able to handle the nightlife here. Not like I did last time. When I was abroad I was rarely out until 6 AM (when you catch the metro home because the metro reopens at 6) but was often out until 4 AM. You fall asleep by 5. If you get 8 hours of sleep you're up at 1 but most likely you're up even later because you were drinking until 4 AM, and then you meet up with friends for lunch. So by the time your day is about to get started is 3 or 4 PM and the day is kind of shot. I told myself I couldn't handle that lifestyle anymore because I'm "old," and mature ... or something.
I was wrong.
I woke up this morning around 9 AM and realized it was the first weekend since I got to Spain that I had a full night's rest and was up early in the morning to do things I needed to do before starting my day. So this morning I've cleaned my room, the rest of my apartment, did a load of laundry, and made food for the week, all before 11 AM. And I feel great. It's also because I fell asleep at 11 PM with the lights on, watching tv on my computer.
For the last few weekends I've been out until 4 or 5 every Friday or Saturday. I think part of the issue is that it's light out until after 10 PM (which I always thought was a myth and an exaggeration ... but it's not) so it doesn't feel like dinner time until 11 PM so you eat at 11 or 11:30 and go out to bars at 1 AM. In DC, I'm often on my way home at 1 AM. And then drinks are extremely strong. And we're up in the mountains. So then you've had more to drink than you intended and it's almost 5 o'clock in the morning before you even feel tired. I thought that I was adapting well to the Spanish lifestyle, except being so accomplished this morning makes me realize how awful I feel waking up in the afternoon and doing nothing with my day except eating lunch and resting before starting the Spanish nightlife all over again. I can see how this would have been great in high school when I slept all day anyway, but now I just feel bad about myself. I waste my life away when I could be doing other things. Like cleaning.
So fret not, friends, when I come home I won't be partying until 5 AM (unless it's my birthday... 3/16/2012. Sammy and I are already planning) and I'll still be waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed to start my day. And texting you way earlier than you like because I don't realize that other people sleep in (Sorry Sammy).
I was wrong.
I woke up this morning around 9 AM and realized it was the first weekend since I got to Spain that I had a full night's rest and was up early in the morning to do things I needed to do before starting my day. So this morning I've cleaned my room, the rest of my apartment, did a load of laundry, and made food for the week, all before 11 AM. And I feel great. It's also because I fell asleep at 11 PM with the lights on, watching tv on my computer.
For the last few weekends I've been out until 4 or 5 every Friday or Saturday. I think part of the issue is that it's light out until after 10 PM (which I always thought was a myth and an exaggeration ... but it's not) so it doesn't feel like dinner time until 11 PM so you eat at 11 or 11:30 and go out to bars at 1 AM. In DC, I'm often on my way home at 1 AM. And then drinks are extremely strong. And we're up in the mountains. So then you've had more to drink than you intended and it's almost 5 o'clock in the morning before you even feel tired. I thought that I was adapting well to the Spanish lifestyle, except being so accomplished this morning makes me realize how awful I feel waking up in the afternoon and doing nothing with my day except eating lunch and resting before starting the Spanish nightlife all over again. I can see how this would have been great in high school when I slept all day anyway, but now I just feel bad about myself. I waste my life away when I could be doing other things. Like cleaning.
So fret not, friends, when I come home I won't be partying until 5 AM (unless it's my birthday... 3/16/2012. Sammy and I are already planning) and I'll still be waking up bright eyed and bushy tailed to start my day. And texting you way earlier than you like because I don't realize that other people sleep in (Sorry Sammy).
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Hodge Podge
Looking Back
My time in Madrid is half done. Part of me thinks, "Already???" and the other part thinks it feels like I've been here forever. I think part of that has to do with feeling like I picked up where I left off four years ago. I'm going to some of the same places with some of the same people, or same places with new people, and new places with new people. It just feels like my life has continued on from June 2009 and picked up in May 2012.
The good part about retracing my steps is that I've been able to see how much I have (not) changed in the last three years. I've noticed how much growing up I've done and have reflected on all the experiences I hadn't had yet that have given me my personality and my outlook on life. In a lot of ways I feel wiser than I was before, and I don't mean that I'm all-knowing, but the last three years I've started living on my own, graduated college, got rejected from 100s of jobs, started law school, got rejected from 100s more jobs, made friends, lost friends, had two knee surgeries, and adopted Ginger Lee Rogers. All of these events, big or small, have changed me from who I was in 2009. A few nights ago I was talking with one of the Marines who works at the Embassy and we were talking about thoughts on a variety of subjects, most of them serious. We're the same age and had a lot of the same experiences that we've grown and matured from. What struck me was when he asked me what it's like to live on my own. Taking the steps of living with family to a sheltered dorm environment to living with a host family to living in a house with 4 other women and finally living on my own, there was a progression in my life of learning how to live on my own with less security every step of the way. He thought it would be weird to live on his own, and I realized that even though he's been responsible for the safety of other people for the last 6 years, he's never been responsible for paying his own bills. It's such a mundane task, and I think you take for granted that by 25 you learn how to live on your own as an adult, but he'll be 25, living on his on for the first time, having never had to remember to pay bills or go grocery shopping. It also made me realize that 3 years ago I hadn't done any of that either, but now it's second nature and just part of life that I don't even think about.
Trips
So far I've taken two day trips, one to Avila, and today I went hiking.
OK, let's start with the more surprising of those two: I went hiking. I'm from NYC. The outdoors is a great but scary place filled with bugs and mud and ways to hurt yourself. One of my coworkers invited me on a day hike and I said sure. One, because I didn't actually know if I liked hiking or not (turns out I do). Two, because I thought it would be a good (or awful) test for my knee. And three, when else am I going to get the chance to go hiking in Spain. We went to a small town called Rascafria (wow, that's the worst Wiki article I've ever seen) and hiked in Peñalara Natural Park. We went on a 6K hike, most of which wasn't too treacherous, but some of it was a little challenging. One of the things I love about Spain is how quickly weather changes in the mountains. When we got to the park it was cold and rainy and I thought I was poorly dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. We went into a monastery for a few minutes, and when we came out it was sunny and warming up. Throughout the day we had overcast skies, cloudy skies, partly cloudy skies, drizzle, rain, sunshine. I was really worried about my knee as we got to some of the bigger rocks but I think was all in my head, and I made it to the grand finale, the Cascada de Pergutorio (Waterfall of Pergutory ... yikes) no problem
I never think of the Spanish as an outdoor-loving people unless it involves a combination of soccer, beer, and a stroll in the park. In the year I lived here I never heard anyone talk about hiking or outdoor adventures, so I was surprised to see how many people we on the trail with us. I was also surprised to see that animals were being herded and kept in different pens along the mountain (mostly cows). And looking back on it, I didn't see any litter which is what you expect when you climb a mountain, but there tends to be a lot of litter in Spain, and people just drop things on the floor instead of looking for a trash can, so it was nice to see that park kept so nice.
On Memorial Day, I took a day trip to Avila which is home to lots of medieval churches (including one that started being built around 350 AD but is mostly medieval in style) and a giant wall to keep people out. And my people I probably mean Moors. I went on a Monday which meant that most of the museums were closed which made my trip a lot shorter than initially planned. One of the disappointing things about seeing a small medieval town is once you've seen one you've kind of seen them all. The main attractions are churches and cathedrals and churches and an architectural phenomenon or two. So nothing struck me in Avila the way things struck me in Segovia or Toledo or the small towns we went to in Extremadura or Castilla-Leon or Castilla-La-Mancha.
EuroCup
Europeans say that Americans are way too patriotic and everyone has an American flag and we go around singing the national anthem all day long. OK, maybe not the last part. But they do think we're the most patriotic country in the world.
Until now.
The EuroCup is a regionalsoccer fútbol tournament with 16 teams competing every four years to be crowned the champions of Europe. Spain won the EuroCup in 2008, and the World Cup in 2010, so the country is really excited right now. Everyone has Spanish flags hanging off their balconies, they're all walking around in Spanish National Team jerseys, and people are glued to their TVs. Leaving Rascafria today we saw a group of ~10 Spanish children draped in the nation's flag, faces painted red and yellow, with whistles and noiseblowers and egging on passing cars to honk. Any other time of year these small children would be labelled Franco-loving facists, but when it's all in support of Spanish soccer, it's adorable and priased.
Anyway, the teams are split up into 4 pools, the top 2 from each pool after round play goes on to the following round, similar to the World Cup. Sorry Spain, you tied Italy 1-1 and played a much better game. Better luck against Ireland and Croatia.
As often happens, there's a lot of politics involved in this match. It's not quite the Miracle on Ice or the Berlin Olympics, but it is an important time for Europe. There's still a lot of inequality between Western and Eastern European countries, and Eastern Europe is still viewed by Western Europe as underdeveloped and backwards. In an attempt to debunk some of those myths, UEFA awarded the EuroCup to be played in Poland and the Ukraine, most likely because neither of those countries could handle all those games, but they can show the rest of Europe that they are a cultured, smart people with a lot to offer the EU (Poland is an EU member, the Ukraine is not, though presumably is trying to become a candidate country). Western Europe tends to see Eastern Europe as pulling down the Euro and the European economy as a whole, so this is a good chance to A. help the economy but B. show what these countries have to offer. But that only works IF these countries can present a positive front. (note: of the 16 teams the 5 Eastern European teams are Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Croatia, and the Czech Republic).
There are current and former soccer stars who are boycotting the games because of the rampant racism -- mostly against Muslims, Jews, and Africans -- in Poland and the Ukraine. The players have been training in the two countries for a few weeks and many were bombarded with racial slurs during practices, including a group of Polish men raising their arms and heiling Hitler to some Jewish players, and a group of South Asian youths who were beaten during a game for no reason other than being South Asian. With acts like that, the EU member states are only going to continue looking down on Poland and the Ukraine. I was reading an article that criticized UEFA for giving the bid to Poland and the Ukraine to help improve the impression that the west has about the east, and said that the games should have been awarded as a reward for making certain steps to stopping racism and other social problems, not given out in hopes that the countries would magically become more tolerant.
According to these articles, racism seems to be an issue, and it's only day 3:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18383678
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18338838
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18377957
My time in Madrid is half done. Part of me thinks, "Already???" and the other part thinks it feels like I've been here forever. I think part of that has to do with feeling like I picked up where I left off four years ago. I'm going to some of the same places with some of the same people, or same places with new people, and new places with new people. It just feels like my life has continued on from June 2009 and picked up in May 2012.
The good part about retracing my steps is that I've been able to see how much I have (not) changed in the last three years. I've noticed how much growing up I've done and have reflected on all the experiences I hadn't had yet that have given me my personality and my outlook on life. In a lot of ways I feel wiser than I was before, and I don't mean that I'm all-knowing, but the last three years I've started living on my own, graduated college, got rejected from 100s of jobs, started law school, got rejected from 100s more jobs, made friends, lost friends, had two knee surgeries, and adopted Ginger Lee Rogers. All of these events, big or small, have changed me from who I was in 2009. A few nights ago I was talking with one of the Marines who works at the Embassy and we were talking about thoughts on a variety of subjects, most of them serious. We're the same age and had a lot of the same experiences that we've grown and matured from. What struck me was when he asked me what it's like to live on my own. Taking the steps of living with family to a sheltered dorm environment to living with a host family to living in a house with 4 other women and finally living on my own, there was a progression in my life of learning how to live on my own with less security every step of the way. He thought it would be weird to live on his own, and I realized that even though he's been responsible for the safety of other people for the last 6 years, he's never been responsible for paying his own bills. It's such a mundane task, and I think you take for granted that by 25 you learn how to live on your own as an adult, but he'll be 25, living on his on for the first time, having never had to remember to pay bills or go grocery shopping. It also made me realize that 3 years ago I hadn't done any of that either, but now it's second nature and just part of life that I don't even think about.
Trips
So far I've taken two day trips, one to Avila, and today I went hiking.
OK, let's start with the more surprising of those two: I went hiking. I'm from NYC. The outdoors is a great but scary place filled with bugs and mud and ways to hurt yourself. One of my coworkers invited me on a day hike and I said sure. One, because I didn't actually know if I liked hiking or not (turns out I do). Two, because I thought it would be a good (or awful) test for my knee. And three, when else am I going to get the chance to go hiking in Spain. We went to a small town called Rascafria (wow, that's the worst Wiki article I've ever seen) and hiked in Peñalara Natural Park. We went on a 6K hike, most of which wasn't too treacherous, but some of it was a little challenging. One of the things I love about Spain is how quickly weather changes in the mountains. When we got to the park it was cold and rainy and I thought I was poorly dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. We went into a monastery for a few minutes, and when we came out it was sunny and warming up. Throughout the day we had overcast skies, cloudy skies, partly cloudy skies, drizzle, rain, sunshine. I was really worried about my knee as we got to some of the bigger rocks but I think was all in my head, and I made it to the grand finale, the Cascada de Pergutorio (Waterfall of Pergutory ... yikes) no problem
I never think of the Spanish as an outdoor-loving people unless it involves a combination of soccer, beer, and a stroll in the park. In the year I lived here I never heard anyone talk about hiking or outdoor adventures, so I was surprised to see how many people we on the trail with us. I was also surprised to see that animals were being herded and kept in different pens along the mountain (mostly cows). And looking back on it, I didn't see any litter which is what you expect when you climb a mountain, but there tends to be a lot of litter in Spain, and people just drop things on the floor instead of looking for a trash can, so it was nice to see that park kept so nice.
On Memorial Day, I took a day trip to Avila which is home to lots of medieval churches (including one that started being built around 350 AD but is mostly medieval in style) and a giant wall to keep people out. And my people I probably mean Moors. I went on a Monday which meant that most of the museums were closed which made my trip a lot shorter than initially planned. One of the disappointing things about seeing a small medieval town is once you've seen one you've kind of seen them all. The main attractions are churches and cathedrals and churches and an architectural phenomenon or two. So nothing struck me in Avila the way things struck me in Segovia or Toledo or the small towns we went to in Extremadura or Castilla-Leon or Castilla-La-Mancha.
Cathedral
Lion outside of the main church. Lions are the main symbol of the royal family descending from Castilla León and why the Lion is on the Spanish crest.
Anti-invader wall
Europeans say that Americans are way too patriotic and everyone has an American flag and we go around singing the national anthem all day long. OK, maybe not the last part. But they do think we're the most patriotic country in the world.
Until now.
The EuroCup is a regional
Anyway, the teams are split up into 4 pools, the top 2 from each pool after round play goes on to the following round, similar to the World Cup. Sorry Spain, you tied Italy 1-1 and played a much better game. Better luck against Ireland and Croatia.
As often happens, there's a lot of politics involved in this match. It's not quite the Miracle on Ice or the Berlin Olympics, but it is an important time for Europe. There's still a lot of inequality between Western and Eastern European countries, and Eastern Europe is still viewed by Western Europe as underdeveloped and backwards. In an attempt to debunk some of those myths, UEFA awarded the EuroCup to be played in Poland and the Ukraine, most likely because neither of those countries could handle all those games, but they can show the rest of Europe that they are a cultured, smart people with a lot to offer the EU (Poland is an EU member, the Ukraine is not, though presumably is trying to become a candidate country). Western Europe tends to see Eastern Europe as pulling down the Euro and the European economy as a whole, so this is a good chance to A. help the economy but B. show what these countries have to offer. But that only works IF these countries can present a positive front. (note: of the 16 teams the 5 Eastern European teams are Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Croatia, and the Czech Republic).
There are current and former soccer stars who are boycotting the games because of the rampant racism -- mostly against Muslims, Jews, and Africans -- in Poland and the Ukraine. The players have been training in the two countries for a few weeks and many were bombarded with racial slurs during practices, including a group of Polish men raising their arms and heiling Hitler to some Jewish players, and a group of South Asian youths who were beaten during a game for no reason other than being South Asian. With acts like that, the EU member states are only going to continue looking down on Poland and the Ukraine. I was reading an article that criticized UEFA for giving the bid to Poland and the Ukraine to help improve the impression that the west has about the east, and said that the games should have been awarded as a reward for making certain steps to stopping racism and other social problems, not given out in hopes that the countries would magically become more tolerant.
According to these articles, racism seems to be an issue, and it's only day 3:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18383678
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18338838
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18377957
Friday, June 1, 2012
Official Visits
This all happened last week but for some reason I was exceedingly remiss on writing my thoughts about it. Maybe because I thought so much about it.
Florida's First Lady
The Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, and the First Lady, Ann Scott, came to Madrid last week to try to improve economic relations between Spain and Florida. I thought this was odd because I didn't realize that states could enter into agreements or negotiations with countries, and it turns out that they don't produce treaties, but can produce policies and agreements.
For Spanish media, this was the highlight of the trip:
If you're not sure what Gov. Scott is referencing, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, went on a Safari and was photographed hunting elephants. Spaniards were so upset that JCI publicly apologized, the first time a Spanish King has ever done that. Ever.
Lucky for me I did't know about that little jab.
So I spent the day with Mrs. Scott going to the American School of Madrid (it made me want to go back to high school) and a bilingual public middle school in Spain. As someone who once applied to M.A.T. programs to become a teacher, it was a really interesting day. Mrs. Scott's causes are education and literacy which is why she wanted to tour schools in Madrid while she was here, as she often does in Florida.
The best part of the day had to be going on a tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) with her and getting to go behind those pesky ropes that keep people out of certain areas, and we even got a tour of parts of the palace that are not opened to the public because they're used by the Royal Family for entertaining special guests. I couldn't take any pictures inside the palace, but even the court yard is gorgeous.
The Ambassador
The Ambassador makes an effort to get to know as much of his staff as possible, which means monthly coffees with 15-20 employees -- both American and local. In the summer he prioritizes temp-hires and students so he can meet with them before they go, but mixes it in with people who have been there for 20+ years. It gives you a good idea of where your coworkers come from and where they learned English or Spanish and what it's been like to move so often, etc. Mr. and Mrs. Solomont also gave their views on living in Spain and a brief summary of their lives, and it made them much more approachable. I didn't expect the Ambassador to take time out of his day to get to know the people who support his mission but I was glad to see that he does. Not to mention their dog is ADORABLE.
Florida's First Lady
The Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, and the First Lady, Ann Scott, came to Madrid last week to try to improve economic relations between Spain and Florida. I thought this was odd because I didn't realize that states could enter into agreements or negotiations with countries, and it turns out that they don't produce treaties, but can produce policies and agreements.
For Spanish media, this was the highlight of the trip:
If you're not sure what Gov. Scott is referencing, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, went on a Safari and was photographed hunting elephants. Spaniards were so upset that JCI publicly apologized, the first time a Spanish King has ever done that. Ever.
Lucky for me I did't know about that little jab.
So I spent the day with Mrs. Scott going to the American School of Madrid (it made me want to go back to high school) and a bilingual public middle school in Spain. As someone who once applied to M.A.T. programs to become a teacher, it was a really interesting day. Mrs. Scott's causes are education and literacy which is why she wanted to tour schools in Madrid while she was here, as she often does in Florida.
The best part of the day had to be going on a tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) with her and getting to go behind those pesky ropes that keep people out of certain areas, and we even got a tour of parts of the palace that are not opened to the public because they're used by the Royal Family for entertaining special guests. I couldn't take any pictures inside the palace, but even the court yard is gorgeous.
The Ambassador
The Ambassador makes an effort to get to know as much of his staff as possible, which means monthly coffees with 15-20 employees -- both American and local. In the summer he prioritizes temp-hires and students so he can meet with them before they go, but mixes it in with people who have been there for 20+ years. It gives you a good idea of where your coworkers come from and where they learned English or Spanish and what it's been like to move so often, etc. Mr. and Mrs. Solomont also gave their views on living in Spain and a brief summary of their lives, and it made them much more approachable. I didn't expect the Ambassador to take time out of his day to get to know the people who support his mission but I was glad to see that he does. Not to mention their dog is ADORABLE.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)