Week 10

By Aaron

Lost in Translation:
For those of you have been keeping up with our updates, we still don't have internet.  Following a suggestion from my once-puertorriqueño father, Joni asked our building president if she had the contact information for this supposed maintenance man in the hopes we could make this repair worth his while.  Rosa said that she doesn't really know and that this is his job and that he has to do it.  This is, of course, after she had told us that she was calling him every day last week.  Perhaps sensing the desperation in her eyes, Rosa promised Joni that if the man doesn't come by the end of this week she would call a different person to perform the requisite maintenance.

If ever a picture was worth 1,000 words...

On a brighter note, this week brought our return to Marli's language exchange!  She took us to Retiro the day after we arrived in Madrid for this weekly scheduled meeting of speakers of all sorts of languages.  This past Thursday we met at Marli's church and conversed with people from Spain, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States - all in English or Spanish.  It was a nice mix of having the structure of being in a specific place with the goal of speaking in Spanish, while not feeling the pressure to answer a specific question asked by a teacher. 

All the people at our language exchange...minus Aaron...

Exploring the City: On Saturday we explored Mercado San Antón Martín - one of many markets in the city offering both produce for sale and food-truck-like stands proffering gourmet Spanish food.  While many of you are likely familiar with the concept of tapas (small plates that are either free with a drink or inexpensive a la carte), the type of fare available at San Antón Martin would be considered a pintxo (pronounced pin-cho).  Pintxos are typically a little pricier but also of a higher quality.  Regardless of cost, they are delicious!

A grain vendor at Mercado Antón Martin

Memorable Meal: After a long day of school and work on Monday, I arrived home to find that Joni cooked dinner!  For those of you who don't know, cooking is one of Joni's least favorite activities and something she tends to avoid if at all possible.  It works out well since I typically don't have the foresight to do laundry nor the ability to iron a shirt!  Anyway, Joni cooked up a delicious mix of potatoes and peppers, along with bread topped with a fried egg and cheese.  We eat a lot of good food here, but this may be the meal that most delighted me - both because it came when I was quite hungry and because I know what utter displeasure it caused Joni to make.

Trabajo (work): So yeah, as I've alluded to earlier in this blog, I got a job!  Last Thursday I interviewed with Beacon Language Consultants and was given an offer on the spot.  I'll spend about half my time teaching one-on-one and small group classes in the Beacon classroom spaces, and will be out in the field teaching in-company and in-home classes for the other half.  Once classes are in full swing I hope to have between 16 and 18 hours every week, which sounds like a pretty easy load.  But take into account the time spent lesson planning and it adds up to a full fledged 9 to 5 job in terms of total hours worked.  Lesson planning has, thus far, caused me to plumb the depraved depths of the inside of my soul, as well as making me feel giddy and elated.  This is very different from any job I've ever had before, and with that newness come the requisite pinnacles and nadirs.  All in all, I really enjoy the actual time spent in the classroom, and I expect the anxious anticipation may diminish with repetition.

Joni also started work on Monday, proctoring a written level test for the class of actors she will be teaching at a local union for performers.  She is also responsible for grading these tests, and has enjoyed witnessing the profundity of thought juxtaposed with relatively elementary grammatical errors.  In addition to this job (at which she'll be working with adults) Joni had her first lesson with a child on Monday as well.  Ignacio, age 8, has expressed a strong disinterest in structured worksheets or written work, and so Joni spent an hour and a half playing games and simply carrying on a conversation.
  
En la clase: At the end of our fourth week in Spanish class, Joni and I were named co-students of the week!  It's always nice to be recognized, and it felt especially good since the Spanish language is still very new to us.  I don't think we ever want these courses to end, but we'll soon need to find another way to progress in our language learning.

Final Notes:
Tonight we celebrate our anniversary!  Three years ago, Joni and I shared our wedding with almost all of our very favorite people.  We've come a long way, both figuratively and literally as the past 36 months have contained visits together via car, plane, train, metro, bus and scooter.  I am so pleased to be accompanied on this Spanish adventure with my best friend, and it's difficult to imagine a world in which we aren't together.

Looking ahead to the coming week, we are excited about having my family visit!  My mom, dad and sister will be coming to Madrid for about a week. It will be great to have in-person contact with familiar faces for the first time since arriving in July, and it will be almost equally as wonderful to be reunited with that savory goodness of Chex mix (which my mother has promised to bring).