Update from the Road
Well I am off on my last big adventure before returning to the States. Tonight I head into France to get my pilgrim’s passport and tomorrow I begin the Camino de Santiago! I know I’ve left a lot of trips undocumented on here, but I didn’t want to put up a bunch of boring text-only posts. In this one I’ll at least include some links to pictures. I just wanted to give you an idea of my frame of mind before this last stage of my year abroad and an idea of the road that lies ahead.
I had a wonderful time showing my sister around Valencia and exploring Madrid with her. As I said of my travels in Andalucia and Morocco, it was fun traveling to these exotic places and meeting lots of new people, but it also made me nostalgic for the familiar. So it was very refreshing to be in a city I know well with my sister. She got to meet some of my friends and see my favorite places. It was a really fun few days of luxury, but then we both had to return to our respective real lives. So from a suite at the Ritz I went to a hostel with twenty beds in one room, all sharing a single toilet and shower!
After Lynette left for the airport I went to see one last exhibition, which turned out to be a perfect send-off for me. It was called “Heroinas” or “Heroines” and it was all about strong, independent women as they’ve been portrayed through time by themselves and others. I identified most with the Edward Hopper painting above, of a woman in a hotel room looking at her train schedule for the next day. She looks very tired, and reminds me of how I feel, minus the glamorous 1930s clothes and accessories, of course. I told my sister when we were in Madrid that I was already tired of traveling, which was kind of funny at that point since I still had nearly a month to go! Of course I’m glad I’m doing it, but it does get tiring.
Anyway, now I’m off to do parts of the Camino de Santiago! I can’t believe it’s finally happening. I am very excited and a little nervous, but it should be great! For those of you who don’t know anything about it, it’s basically a loooong hike, and a chance to do some sightseeing on foot. It began as a religious pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where St. James is supposedly buried, but now people do it for all kinds of spiritual or even superstitious reasons. For me, I think it’s the perfect way to wrap up my year abroad. Most people do it alone, so I’ll be able to meet lots of people while doing my own thing. And it will be a great opportunity to reflect on the last year and what lies ahead. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to to update you while I’m traveling, so here are a couple links I found that you might enjoy. Wish me luck!
http://www.irache.com/ Webcam of wine fountain on the Camino de Santiago (I can’t get the link to work on this computer, but you should be able to choose English and click on the menu for Wine Fountain, then see the webcam.)
http://crtvg.es/camweb/ Webcams at various points along the Camino
Sorry it’s been a long time since my last post, everyone. I just wanted to give you a quick update because I’ve got a lot of news.
When I had a few days off for the Fallas, which were amazing, by the way, I got to thinking about my goals for coming here and if I’ve achieved them. My first goal was to travel and see more of Spain and some of Europe. My second goal was to practice my Spanish and hopefully improve it. Lastly, I wanted to experience and appreciate the Spanish culture and relaxed way of life. I was going to finance all this by getting certified so that I could get a job to teach English while I’m out here.
Well, as often happens with us Americans, I got so caught up in my job that I forgot to look out for my own interests. The past few weeks I had been taking on so many extra classes that I was staying up until 3 a.m. prepping nearly every night, then getting up at 8 a.m. to wait at the photocopy shop for an hour before I started a practically nonstop workday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. That is no kind of life! Also I’ve been learning much more (than I ever cared to know) about English than Spanish!
So, I quit my job! My last day is Wednesday, before the Easter holidays begin here. Of course I feel bad for not finishing out the year at the school, but I have worked very hard in the time I was there, and I am being as fair to them as I can while still looking out for my own best interests. So in all I will have worked for nine months of my time here and traveled for three. I think that’s a wonderful balance. If only I could handle being a teacher forever; I could always have that schedule!
Then I will be traveling for most of the rest of my time here. Plus my sister is coming to visit me! I have given up my apartment as of April 26, when I leave on my first trip, and will be staying with friends for the few days between trips that I will be in Valencia. If anyone was planning on sending me a birthday card, don’t worry about it as it’s already too late. If you really want, I can give you the address where my stuff will be staying and I will be occasionally and you can send it there. But I will be back to the States in two months, and will see you soon!
Finally, one more not-so minor thing: I got accepted to the master’s program I applied for at UIC! I’m super excited to be a student again—after being a teacher I am very much looking forward to being on the other side of the classroom! So that will start in August, which means I will be in Chicago with much more playtime with my wonderful nephews (one of whose birthday party I was very sad to miss yesterday). I’m very excited about the new career path that I will learn about and prepare for in this program and all that is to come from it.
Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post. My computer’s disk space is full, so I’ve been having a lot of trouble accessing my pictures to edit and post them. Unfortunately I can’t promise I’ll have time to do it before I leave. So I hope you’ve enjoyed my Postcards from Valencia, and I can’t wait to see you soon!
So the Fallas are starting to come alive in the streets here! The main part of the Fallas is the sculptures (ninots) that fill the streets, some of which are 3 or 4 stories tall! Some of the sculptures take days to set up, so cranes have been appearing all over the city to construct the largest ones. My friend Marie and I went ninot spotting yesterday on an epic bike ride for five hours! It rained for most of last week but Sunday was appropriately sunny and felt like it was 75 degrees out, so it was a perfect day for a bike ride. I took some pictures of the ninots under construction, to give you an idea of what is to come. Then the sculptures will be up for only four days, and Saturday night they will all* be burned during La Crema (“the burning”). The whole city will be on fire! Then, naturally, fireworks will follow, around 1:30 a.m.
It would be exciting, I’m sure, just to be a tourist and to come for the main events, which start Wednesday once all the sculptures are officially on display in the streets. But I’ve loved being here to see all the excitement building. Now, and for the rest of this week, if you think of me at all you must imagine the sound of fireworks in the background, because they are basically nonstop at this point. It’s amazing to be an American here, too, as we really have nothing like this and never could. A friend from London was describing La Crema to me tonight and it sounds otherworldly. It’s funny to hear the Valencian perspective, too, because my students keep complaining that it’s “only a week” of partying and that the discos (dance clubs) that are out in the streets close too early (at 4 a.m.). Coming from the U.S., where holidays last for one day only and all the bars in the City that Never Sleeps always close by 4 (not 10 a.m., like some here!) I cannot wait!
The lights in the streets are also very impressive. Last night I went to see if the lights in Russafa, which are supposed to be the best, had been lit yet. It turned out to be a wonderful case of being in the right place at the right time, because I got there just as the official lighting ceremony was about to begin! They had a symphony of light and sound, as opera music blasted from enormous speakers while the lights were revealed bit by bit as the crowds applauded. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with me, but here is a link where you can see pictures from the prizewinning streets, which are truly extraordinary. http://www.fallas.com/index.php/febrero2010/362-premios-del-concurso-de-calles-adornadas-y-del-concurso-decalles-iluminadas-a
*Not all of the sculptures will be burned during La Crema. There is a public exhibition where each casal faller chooses one single sculpture (ninot) to display. Everyone who goes to the exhibit gets to vote for one ninot in the adult, full-size section and one in the children’s section. Then the ninot that received the most votes in each section is saved in the Fallas museum—so one from the adult section and one from the children’s. My next posts show some of my favorites from each section.
Well, I feel like I’m gaining an education in pyrotechnics here (as well as losing some of my hearing). Valencia considers itself the world capital of pyrotechnics, and I see little reason to doubt that. So far I have seen/heard more types of fireworks than I ever knew existed, and we still have two weeks to go!
For those of you who don’t know much about the Fallas, here is one of many sites with a brief overview of the events and a little history, too. http://www.valencia-cityguide.com/tourist-information/leisure/festivals/the-fallas.html Basically, March 16-19 the entire city is going to be one nonstop party. Schools and businesses are closed (even mine!). Every morning there will be fireworks and marching bands in the streets at 8 a.m. for La Desperta, or “The Wake-up Call”! Then there’s another fireworks show at 2 p.m. in Plaza del Ayuntamiento, but this one is a mascleta, which is mostly sound, although sometimes they have colored smoke. Then there are lots of parties in the streets and a regular (but way better than anything we’ve ever seen in the U.S.) fireworks show every night around 1 a.m. over the old Turia riverbed.
But the program and the excitement actually starts much earlier. On the last Sunday in February there was an awesome mascleta at 2 p.m. and a fireworks show at the Torres de Serrano (other set of towers in the middle of the city, but not nearly as cool [in my biased opinion] as the towers right outside my apartment) at 8 p.m. I got caught up in impromptu parades twice that day: once as my friend and I were leaving the mascleta (We shuffled into a new Basque-style tapas bar with what seemed like a few hundred other people, so the parade continued, back and forth between the bar and tables, for a while longer), and the other while leaving the fireworks at night and heading towards the Plaza de la Virgen. There, the members of different casals fallers (neighborhood associations that plan the sculptures for each area and serve as social hubs for events throughout the year) danced in matching coats or sweatshirts, each group to their own mini marching band.
Also, there is a mascleta every single day in March up until the end of the Fallas. Unfortunately I often have a class at 2 p.m., but I’m going to try to go to every one that I can. Although at first I was skeptical—It’s just noise and smoke!—I’m starting to learn how to appreciate the mascleta. Everyone says it’s about the rhythm, and the noise—the louder the better! Also just the excitement of everyone being together in the main plaza, kids jumping up and down at the end when they have a rapid fire of mascleta so fast and so loud that your intestines shake and you can feel the vibrations through the ground (This part is aptly named terremoto or “earthquake”)—all this really adds to the enjoyment.
One weekday, while I was walking home from the mascleta, I ran into an impromptu concert in the middle of the street that connects the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (where the mascleta is) to Plaza de la Reina. I included a picture of it above. A band had started playing their instruments in the middle of the street, much to the dismay of the cars who were held up behind them. While the cars honked, the musicians kept playing as everyone laughed and passersby cheered them on and took photos. Things like that, and the firecrackers, or petardos, that are constantly going off in the street, reflect the general sense of merriment in the Valencian community for nearly the entire month of March. I will have many, many more pictures to post and stories to tell, and will try to get them up in a timely manner!
Finally, some pictures and a story from Valencia Day, or Nou d’Octubre (the 9th of October). It’s kind of ridiculous it took me so long to get these up, but that was right before I took the GRE and ran the half marathon and while I was in the midst of grading exams and writing reports for all my classes…so unfortunately posting these pictures got put off until now. Well, all that and the fact that my computer has a way of deleting pictures while I’m uploading them from my camera and only occasionally making them discoverable at some later point… Anyway, it was a very exciting day full of pomp and circumstance. It is the day when the entire Valencian region celebrates when the city was recaptured from the Moors by the Christians (there was a bit of back-and-forth in the Middle Ages, evidence of which is apparent in the beautiful blend of architectural styles on every block).
The day starts out with a reenactment of the surrender of Valencia to the Christians, complete with period-authentic costumes and all, which ends in a ceremonious lowering of the Valencian flag in Plaza del Ayuntamiento. This is followed by a mascleta, which is a traditional Valencian pyrotechnic that involves no light, only sound and smoke. In one of the pictures I’ve posted here of a statue in Plaza del Ayuntamiento it looks like the sky is gray and cloudy, but it’s only from the smoke that remains after the mascleta. I don’t really understand the appeal of the mascleta yet—it seems to me just a bunch of really loud smoke—but I’m told I will appreciate it eventually because they have a mascleta every single day in March at 2 p.m. in anticipation of the Fallas, Valencia’s main event, in mid March. I have a feeling I might get a bit sick of it before I learn to appreciate it, but everyone says you’ll start to notice that some are better than others. Apparently it’s all about rhythm and noise, the louder the better…so I’ll keep you posted on that.
After the lowering of the flag, there’s a procession where they carry the original flag of Valencia to the Plaza de la Virgen, where later there is a show of traditional Valencian music with dancers in exquisite costumes. I took a bunch of pictures of this and some videos, one of which I posted below, so you can see and hear the music and dancing. The band filed in with the procession, playing the whole time, and made their way onto the stage. Then the dancers made their entrance, dancing in pair by pair until they circled the entire plaza. They danced for a full hour the traditional Valencian dances, alternating partners and rotating around the plaza while the band played. Then after the main show was done some of the dancers went up on the little stage and did a few more dances. My friends who are locals (and many who aren’t) didn’t bother going out to see the dancing, but I was so glad to. It was really spectacular and a gorgeous day, so it made for a wonderful study break.
“Can you have it all – career and travel?
A lot of people thrash around trying to bundle travel into their working lives – either by volunteering or trying to transfer their skills to another country. To some this might seem a viable option. For others, the sheen might wear off quickly when they realise they’re working a crummier job than if they were back home, just under different skies. But perhaps those skies are worth it.”
A quote from a Lonely Planet article that mirrors some of my recent thoughts on my current situation. I went out for coffee with some of the teachers from my school the other day and was surprised to find that they feel the same way about teaching that I do—on bad days that can include emotions like dread and loathing. I felt like it should have been comforting to know that I’m not alone, but instead I just found it really depressing. These other teachers have been doing it for years, and I hate hearing from people who are ridiculously unhappy with their current situation but can’t bring themselves to try to change it.
For me, I know I can only do this for a year because, save for the occasional moment of breakthrough or success in the classroom, I get very little gratification out of teaching. That might come with experience, but I can’t see myself doing it for long enough to find out. I am trying to enjoy the challenge, though.
Yesterday, for example, I had to teach my 6-year-olds a bunch of emotions, so I mimed each one to help them understand it. It is very unlike me to stand up in front of a room of people (albeit 6-year-olds) and make a fool of myself, at least not intentionally. But it was fun, the kids enjoyed it, and they actually learned the material. After the class was over my face hurt from pulling it in all different directions to make an exaggerated ugly face or a huge smile, but it just made me laugh because it reminded me of times when my face has hurt from too much (authentic) smiling.
Even though lately I’ve been feeling frustrated about my job—working six days a week without a contract for pitifully low pay—I did appreciate that opportunity to step outside myself a little bit and do something different. As the article said, it might be true that I’m working a crummier job than I could in the U.S. (and getting paid infinitesimally less), but then I look out my window at these beautiful blue Valencian skies, or admire them from the ground while bike riding or jogging or just strolling around the city, and I think how lucky I am to be living in such a beautiful place, if only for a little while.
Some random comments on the language here… So I’m getting used to speaking in Spanish and even catch myself thinking in Spanish sometimes, which is nice. I try to count in Spanish when I’m using weights at the gym, and I pick up local newspapers that are lying around to read while I’m on the bike. I look up a few words every day that were particularly relevant for that day. (Yesterday’s words, for example, were “throat” and “coughing.” As in, “I’ve got a terribly sore throat all of a sudden, and I think it’s because my 5-year-old student has been coughing in my face for the past week.”) And I’ve got a Spanish phrase-a-day calendar, thanks to my grandparents, which has been teaching me some useful and amusing things for the beginning of the year, like, “I’m going to exercise every day,” followed by, “Today is a good day to rest,” and, “This couch is comfortable.”
I’ve been speaking to my roommates more, and we always talk in Spanish. We had a dinner party last week, which was a lot of fun. We had seven different nationalities represented, and all kinds of foods, and I thought it was really cool that we were all communicating in Spanish (some better than others…won’t say where I fell on that continuum). And when I go out to bars with a bunch of people I always try to gravitate towards the ones I can converse with in Spanish. [Aside: I’m kind of disturbed by the number of British people I meet here. I mean, sure, they have a right to be here, too, but if I wanted to surround myself with Brits I would be in England, wouldn’t I? Also I’m probably just a little mad at them for making it harder for me to find a job, but I digress.]
Anyway, so I thought I would share with you a few things I find interesting about the language here:
When you’re in a store and you say, “Gracias!” to the cashier as you’re leaving (after making a purchase), they always say, “A ti,” or “To you” in return. I don’t know why I like that so much, but I do.
People always say, “No pasa nada,” which literally translates to “Nothing happens” or “Nothing is happening.” But they use it to talk about something that just happened, especially if it was something slightly awkward or possibly offensive, like if you were late to an appointment or you accidentally stepped in front of someone in line (which is a bad example, because Spaniards don’t wait in lines). I think it’s kind of interesting culturally, because it’s a common acceptance of a falsified past, kind of like the way no one talks about the Franco era…
Another thing I like is that for greetings, people often just say, “Buenas.” That could be short for “Buenas días” (Good morning) or “Buenas tardes” (Good evening), but in itself it just means “good (plural),” so it could be that they’re wishing you a “good” everything: day, life, whatever. So that makes me smile.
Last weekend I visited my friend who lives outside the city, and she took me to a celebration in the tiny town of Pedralba. It was interesting to get a glimpse of small-town life, although somewhat of a relief to go home after. Valencia is a small enough town for me; I couldn’t imagine living anywhere smaller! They were celebrating the holiday of their patron saint, San Antonio. Apparently each town in Spain has a patron saint, and it’s yet another reason for fiestas! In this case, they have activities all weekend, including a blessing of the animals during the day and a big bonfire at night on Saturday. Then the town basically shuts down for two days of holidays (after Sunday, of course, when everything is always shut down). This is great for the people who live and work in Pedralba but unfortunate for those who commute to Valencia because they still have to work.
I’ve included a few pictures here from the main event, the bonfire in the frighteningly claustrophobic town square. As I mentioned before, Valencianos looove their fireworks, so even though we were in a tiny space they set off enough fireworks to have me jumping out of my skin as ashes and bits and pieces of debris rained down upon us. No one seemed to be bothered by this except me, of course. Also in the post above is a very short (and a little too fast) video to capture the sound and excitement of the event.
Before they started the fire, people lined up to buy the traditional giant empañadas of this holiday, modeled by my friend Ian in a picture above, which they ate as they enjoyed the fire and drank wine from the barrel. I couldn’t eat or drink a thing because Ian, my friend’s housemate, likes to cook a proper British Sunday dinner and stuffs me with it whenever (on whatever day) I visit.
Finally I included a picture from one of my classrooms where I tried to exploit a lesson on “should” and “shouldn’t” for my own benefit in a class of unruly ten-year-olds. For homework I had them write up a list of things they should and shouldn’t do in the classroom. Then we agreed on a final list for the class and a couple of the students wrote it up officially so I could post it on the wall. Now when they’re driving me crazy I point to the poster (usually “We should be silent when the teacher is talking.”) and remind them of the rules they established. We’ll see how long that works for…
So I couldn’t fit all the pics I wanted to upload into one post. Eventually when I get around to posting from my trips in August I think I’ll have to include a link to a photo page, but for now, it will be two posts. I had a wonderful time at home for the holidays. It was so great to see all my friends and family. Of course when I went to edit my pictures I found more than 100 of my nephews and about four of my friends. Oops, sorry, friends. It doesn’t mean I love you any less…
Anyway, I had a terrific time playing in and about New York and Chicago, but all good things must come to an end, so I flew back to Valencia on Saturday. I had a twelve-and-a-half-hour layover in Barcelona on Sunday. While I had fun playing in the city and got to see a few more things I’d been wanting to see, I’d like to say that will be my last one of those. I left New York Saturday afternoon and didn’t get back to my apartment in Valencia until 11:00 Sunday night. Then I had to teach a “morning” (by Spanish standards—seriously, the staff at my school always refer to it as a morning class) class at 1:15 p.m. (7:15 a.m. my time, or 6:15 if I was still on Chicago time) on Monday, and didn’t finish until 8:30 p.m. as usual.
Also we had no running water at my apartment (Welcome back to España!), so I didn’t even try to wear makeup to school since I was planning on washing my face there. So instead of looking refreshed and glad to be back my appearance merited a lot of “Wow, you look tired” remarks. But they’re glad to have me back and some of my students were very excited to see me, so that was nice. Everyone wanted to hear about “New York City!” of course, so I told them it was buried in snow.
I included a bunch of pictures here of the pretty snow and my beautiful friends and family. I don’t think they need much explanation beyond the captions, so I’ll just let you enjoy these and the next post.
