Our weekend in pictures...

This is our first weekend in Madrid, and it is the only one that isn't already pre-planned. We had to make sure that we took advantage of the time we had as our classes start Monday. We will be in class from 9-1 (then break for siesta) and then they pick up again from 3-7pm. So here is a quick series of pics that will sum up our weekend...

With the help of an honorary travel agent (my mom) we figured out the how, the when, and the where.

I love this picture as it really shows how traditional and modern sit side by side in Madrid.

We loved this building!

Entering Gran Villa which reminds us of Broadway in New York City.

The "chacho's" walking down the street. "Pictures 1 euro each!"

We can't remember what this building is used for, but we loved it.

This is the outside of the Reina Sofia museum which holds an impressive collection of Picasso's work including Guernica. We were unable to see the Dali exhibit, but we may have time to go back. The glass structure along the side are the elevators. 

The highlight of our Sunday was partaking in a Madrileno tradition of consuming churros con chocolate. This 100 year old tradition did not disappoint. We think the churros con chocolate is to Madrid what the benet is to New Orleans.

Yummy goodness!

Everywhere you turn in Madrid, if you are not seeing the Spanish national colors of yellow and red, or the colorful dresses of flamenco dancers, then you're looking at the traditional garb and pageantry of Los Matadores. We learned that on Sunday nights you could catch a bullfight at La Plaza del Toros. There were many moments of nail biting and gawking, but that was just listening and watching the locals yell at each other. The bullfight produced quite a few moments of excitement, suspense, and dread. Ultimately you knew how it was going to end for the bull, but the process kept you on the edge of your seat. 

Bull: 1 ; Matador (under the bull): 0

Ending the weekend with such a cultural tradition as the bullfight really made us appreciate the opportunity we have here in Madrid. 

Culture and Religion

We woke up this morning, and we didn't have power. We weren't sure if somehow we blew a fuse, or if something happened in the building. Luckily the fuse box was easy to find so it was a quick flick of a switch and we were back in business. Of course the appliances in the apartment are all in Spanish. Again we are reminded how English appliances are quite a bit different from the rest of the world. The washer and dryer are part of the same machine over here. So we can see how trial and error may lead to quite a few stories. Many of the words we are familiar with, but there are few we have had to look up. We have started placing sticky notes on some of the more unfamiliar items in the apartment and have started recording words that we didn't know but have had to use.

Getting directions and getting details on specific things has proven interesting. We took a Spanish-only guided tour of  Basilica San Francisco el Grande today. I was waiting to hear him speak in Spanish and then translate to English...but that didn't happen. Dorothy said she was able to follow about 25% of the words that he used, and then had to fill-in-the-blanks with her knowledge of art, Catholicism, and being able to pay attention to what he was pointing at. There is no way you can learn every word used in Spanish from your basic everyday courses. Placing yourself in real world situations is really key to picking things up.

One of the most interesting real world experiences was our visit to the Museo de Jamon shop. Basically it is a Spanish meat market full of ham hocks hanging from the walls. We knew we were in with the locals at this shop. It did turn out to be the deal of the day...pan con jamon, bebida, y fruta por dos Euros...ham sandwich, drink and choice of fruit for 2 euro...DEAL!

I will add that as you get tired towards the end of the day, speaking in (or at least trying to) speak in Spanish becomes more and more taxing. Thinking of what you want to say in English first and then mentally translating it to Spanish is time consuming, however, at this point a necessity.

Well at least "Stop" is the same!

Taking notes

One of the stained glass windows in Catedral Nuestra Senora de la Almudena.

Like Madrid there is a juxtaposition between the old and the new and together it creates a harmony. 

We couldn't find a repeated pattern in the ceiling of the cathedral; it simply was amazing.

These patterned reliefs covered nearly the entire ceiling of the cathedral.

Museo de Jamon...we did find it interesting that this place calls itself a Museo. 

This was one of the most important frescoes in the Basilica San Francisco el Grande because it was painted by Spain's Goya. The man in yellow at the bottom right is actually Goya himself at the age of 38. 

 We decided that pictures really help us understand what is happening...the mustache just adds to the culture!

Guess "Acero" means "Steel"

Our first full day in Madrid was spent unpacking in our apartment and becoming familiar with some of the differences between an American abode and a Spanish one, finding our language school (which can be seen from the balcony of our apartment), shopping at the mini-bazaar in Plaza Espana, and watching the final 15 minutes of the Spain vs. Italy futbol game (it ended in a draw). Oh yeah, and we managed to do as the Spaniards do and take a siesta!

Since I am a bit stronger in Spanish than Dorothy, I have to say that communicating has not been extremely difficult. However, I have relied mostly on my knowledge of the present tense and sticking to familiar words. Dorothy says she feels "clumsy" with her Spanish but because everyone is so nice it hasn't been as bad. We reflect on this because one of our goals is to really think about the language barriers some of our ESL students and their families face everyday. She has learned that she has a high affective filter which means she is very self conscious as to how she sounds when speaking Spanish. In order to gauge our growth as we continue with this adventure, Dorothy says she feels about a 2 in being comfortable with communicating...I think I am more of a 4. Dorothy had the opportunity to sit next to a very gregarious and talkative Spanish professor during her 7 hour flight from Charlotte to Madrid (we think he talked for 6 of those hours). He was chaperoning a group of college students on their study abroad component of their scholarship. Anyway, after coaching her in conversational Spanish, he shared with her that she is stuck in the grammar of the language. Being immersed is going to force both of us to stop over-thinking everything and just let it happen.

I think one of the culture adaptations for me was when we bought groceries at the market. With everything in Spanish, you sometimes have to rely on the pictures on the items to understand what you are buying. I can see how visual aids when learning a new language are very important (but not fool proof). It is also helpful to remember that most milk is bought unrefrigerated...a very weird concept for an American.

One of the things we wanted to mention was the weather. Today was beautiful! Coming from the heat and humidity of Houston, Madrid is perfect. There always seems to be a breeze to cool things off. Madrid is a bustling city with old intricate architecture mixed with the modern. Graffiti artists tag just about everything here in Madrid, from the old to the new. We are providing you with a pic of the graffiti which coincidentally has some special meaning for Dorothy (for those of you who don't know, Dorothy's maiden name is Wang).

Well, we are beat, so we are going to enjoy our first night in our apartment listening to the clanking of bottles and dishes from the bar/restaurant that resides just below our balcony. I think we will get used to the night life in Spain...I mean if we can't beat 'em...guess we'll have to join them!

Dorothy's Spanish doppelganger's restaurant

Watching the Espana vs. Azzurre game at our local (all in Spanish of course)

Our apartment has five balconies overlooking the street and the small plaza below. The building across the plaza looks very much like a building you would see in New Orleans. The iron work and layers of peeling paint is beautiful.

We can see the entrance of our language school from the balcony of our apartment (it is the orangish sign). We couldn't have picked a more convenient spot!

The result of our journey to the Spanish market.

Here is Dorothy breaking the cardinal rule of fighting jet lag and taking a siesta in the middle of the day. Well, we did want to immerse ourselves in not only the language but the culture...plus she is still recovering from her surgery last week.

So, are we going?

Celeste and I board the plane, take our seats, and we are excited to head across the Atlantic to Spain. Seatbelts are fastened, things are being crosschecked, and we back away from the gate. And then we move back toward the gate. The pilot comes on and announces that the bags in the cargo of the plane have to be shifted. And then the pilot's door won't close. And then a storm is approaching that has to be waited out. All together, we are about two hours behind. We'll catch a wind and make up the time.

So, how do we make an international call?

When we landed in Charlotte, NC to make our connecting flight to Madrid, Celeste chose this opportunity to make contact with the people whom we are renting the apartment while we are in Madrid.  Easy enough.  We'll just call them. Makes perfect sense.
The number starts with a +. Do we dial that in the number? How do I make a + sign on a numerical keypad?

Celeste and I tried to call the number of the rental but to no avail. The number was not in service regardless of the combination that we tried to use.

This could be a mistake on our end, or we've been had and we gave our money to some crooks.
Where are we going to sleep tonight?

I reached out to my father-in-law who traveled much for his job. He said that the + can be dialed as 011.  Success! We made it through, we have a place to set up as our home away from home.

Our bags are packed, and it is just a matter of hours before we are on our way to Madrid. I just have to keep reminding myself that as long as I have my passport and funds then anything else left behind can be bought in Spain.

One of the important things to keep in our carry on is our toothbrush and toothpaste. Our flight leaves at 10:00 am and we will arrive in Madrid at 7a.m. That toothpaste and toothbrush is going to really help us (and those around us) feel better. :)  Choosing the right snacks to carry on as well as the right reading material is also key. Finally, based on experience, one of the hardest things to do is going to be staying awake on Thursday. We just have to do our best to sleep as much as we can on the plane.

Our next post will be about our experience on the flight, finding our apartment, and checking in with our new school!

Purpose: Attend a three-week intensive Spanish immersion program in Madrid, Spain in order to strengthen our verbal and written communication skills with our Spanish speaking parents, students, and greater school community.  Becoming students ourselves will allow us to be more aware with the struggles and frustrations our English language learners (ELL’s) face in English-speaking classrooms.

Rationale: No one expects to become a professional ballroom dancer by simply watching episodes of “Dancing with the Stars.” In order to perfect the steps involved for each dance, one must immerse themselves in the intricacies of the dance moves, learning when to forward change, open promenade, and reverse fleckeryll. Learning the basic movements and lingo of dance does not produce dancers; it is mastering the development of each step to music and timing it through choreography that one can begin to call oneself a dancer. The final achievement of a great dancer is to be able to dance with a partner or with a troupe. Anticipating and reacting to a partner’s movements and spontaneity are integral to the production and successful communication of a performance.

Just as merely watching and studying “Dancing with the Stars” will not produce professional ballroom dancers neither do traditional American foreign language classrooms produce proficient bilingual students. Traditional foreign language classroom settings provide the foundation in which to learn a language: vocabulary acquisition, grammatical and syntactical structure, and if the teacher is themselves fluent, pronunciation and intonation. However, students in these settings are hindered from acquiring fluency due to the English-rich world in which they are surrounded. In order to become a proficient speaker of a second language, one must immerse themselves in the sights, sounds, and words of the language in which they wish to master.  This language-rich cacophony of foreign sights and sounds will result in the choreography of classroom-based knowledge and field based experience.

Studying Spanish at both the high school and college level and growing up in Texas where the Spanish language and culture plays an integral part in our state’s identity, has helped us establish a sturdy foundation in the language. The 20-classes-per-week intensive Spanish curriculum designed by the don Quijote School in Madrid, Spain incorporates a variety of skills which will help support the fluency we are seeking. By immersing ourselves in the culture and language of Madrid, we are now the language learners struggling to master a tongue that is not native to us. This first-hand experience as a language learner will only strengthen our advocacy for our ELL students and their families. We know the “steps” needed to perform the dance, but we are missing the choreography and music a full immersion program in Madrid, Spain will provide in order to be proficient in the language.

We will keep this blog to record our growth as Spanish speakers and to record the many experiences we will have as non-native speakers in a foreign country. Many of the students and families we have the opportunity to teach endure these difficulties every day.

We look forward to becoming students again...