By Aaron
Lost in Translation: Joni has done her fair share of shopping at various stores in Madrid, and this week she set out with the mission of exchanging a product at Primark. For those of you who don't know, Primark is huge. It is a five-story building, and each floor has enough products to fill several stores. This being said, there is no obvious place to make returns/exchanges. Joni had diligently studied the appropriate terms necessary to exchange her sweatshirt for a different size, but she hadn't anticipated having so much difficulty finding where to make the exchange. Joni was quick to realize it would be much easier to ask where the customer service desk was rather than to search for it herself, so she did. The first response seemed very clear - "la puerta planta." Or so she thought... She didn't really know exactly what this meant, because literally it means "the door floor." That kind of made sense to her though; perhaps there was a service desk right by the entrance that she failed to notice on her way in. She went all the way downstairs and didn't see a service desk. She asked someone else, and they provided the exact same information. Joni figured she just didn't understand what "puerta planta" meant, so she decided to go up a level. Nothing. She wandered around for a bit, in search of any signs, and then decided to ask yet another person. Upon receiving the third piece of advice, Joni finally figured out that she had misheard the previous speakers. They had actually been saying, "la cuarta planta," which means "the 4th floor," and makes a lot more sense! At long last, she found the service desk and successfully exchanged the product with no language issues. The main take-away from this experience: Joni needs to practice her listening skills. Accents are difficult.
Exploring the City: Keeping with the theme of shopping, we went to Xanadu! Perhaps not quite as wondrous as the name implies, this mall on the southwestern outskirts of Madrid was pretty impressive. In addition to making us feel like we were back in America (parking lots e'erwhere!) the plaza contains an indoor ski slope, a massive foodcourt, and yes, even an El Corte Inglés. What do you get for the sprawling commercial center that has everything? A sprawling commercial center that has everything, I guess. I mistakenly thought this would be a very short trip, but with a seemingly endless bounty of bargain-basement-priced stores Joni had other plans. This did offer up ample time for podcast listening and blowing through my backlog of Pocket articles, so I can't complain. At any rate, it was a fun experience that the €7.20 bus fare will probably prohibit us from repeating.
Winter-themed putt-putt.
Indoor ski slope.
Mickey bread!
Memorable Meal: This week we were graciously hosted by our friends Alex and María (not pictured here, because we are not great about remembering to take pictures for this portion of the blog). The couple lives about a 5 minute walk away from us, making them easily our closest-in-proximity friends in the city. We neglected to mention Joni's natural distaste for a large portion of Spanish cuisine, but Joni tried several things far removed from her natural palate. We sampled something that resembled paté but made out of ham (like pureed and seasoned ham that had a bit of a cream cheese texture). I saw this at the church coffee hour this week, and decided it was a little too Spanish even for my (somewhat) adventurous taste buds. But I tried it, on a crispy raisin-speckled toast chip, and it was not bad! One of the stranger things I've had here, and I'm certain it's an acquired taste - it was and will continue to be a tough sell to Joni. Then we had a salmon/cheese/asparagus dish that María prepared...and Joni liked it despite her aversion to all fish! This was followed by a creamy concoction made of potatoes, egg yolk and mushrooms, a glorious mix between mashed potatoes and soup (I was the welcome beneficiary of Joni's mushrooms). Perhaps the tastiest bit of the meal was a sweet-potato mousse that approximated pumpkin pie with a spicy kick. The bar was set incredibly high, but nevertheless we look forward to hosting our friends in the near future.
En la clase: With the Oscars set to air this Sunday, our classes took the theme of nominated movies and ran with it. Students were generally aware of the awards ceremony but, as was the case with the Super Bowl, the time difference alone makes it difficult to follow the live broadcast (the televised portion of the affair kicks off at 2:30 AM Madrid time). Even so, Joni's actor students in particular had a lot to say about actors in the film. We both utilized a game where students had to listen to an acceptance speech and identify the actor. This fell rather flat, even with the actor students, since dubbed films obviously do not have the voice of the original actor. I think it's becoming more common for Spanish people to see movies in the V.O. (version original) but there is not the same recognition - even for someone like Denzel Washington whose rich and distinctive tone would be easy to spot with the utterance of a single word.
Final Notes: On Friday evening we will welcome our first 2017 visitors - Sarah, Leah, and Jacob! We're excited to see where their week in Spain takes us, and it will certainly be ample blog-fodder for next week.
Lost in Translation: Monday was a very trying day in my long and agonizing journey towards improving my Spanish. Despite spending a total of 2.5 hours formally studying through grammar books and a class, I felt utterly defeated in each and every menial speaking interaction. It is typically no big deal to negotiate the several small encounters I have with people, from receptionists to cashiers to fellow residents in our building, but on Monday even this low-hanging fruit seemed to evade my grasp. It all culminated in a trip to Mercadona, one of several nearby grocery stores.
First, a brief aside that is essential to understand the story. Most grocery stores have an area near the front of the building where patrons can lock up their wheeled grocery bags. I usually just use our bag as my shopping cart, wheeling it about the store as I shop, but a couple weeks ago Joni was told that all outside wheeled bags need to be stowed at the front of the store. Knowing this, I was sure to lock up my wheeled bag before entering Mercadona on this fateful Monday.
After completing a mostly successful jaunt through the store using the Mercadona-sanctioned basket/cart, I went to unlock my wheeled bag so that I could load my groceries after paying. I emptied the contents from the Mercadona cart onto the belt and began the shuffle toward the register. At this point, a woman approached and asked if she could use my now-empty cart. I consented, and she took my cart, leaving me with my own wheeled bag and a bounty full of food edging ever closer to the cashier. Yeah, I can see what it looks like, clearly I just broke the first (and only?) rule of Mercadona shopping, violating their hallowed laminate tile with my street-worn devil-may-care wheeled bag. The cashier looked up, with the weight of another thankless shift hanging under her eyes. She asked me if I had broken the rules, and as I began to protest my Spanish flew straight out the window. I was understanding her, but somehow suddenly lost all ability to communicate anything besides "No, no....no..." Finally, some chunk of memory broke free and I blurted "¡Una mujer grabar mi carta!" which translates to "A woman writing my letter!" Unimpressed, the cashier proceeded to scan my food whilst muttering something and shaking her head disapprovingly. Granted, this all may seem very minuscule, but after a day riddled with false starts and blank stares it felt colossal. I have since spoken with more confidence and coherence, so I rest assured knowing not all has been lost.
Exploring the City: This past weekend took us south to explore the wonders of Granada! Situated in a prime position to access the sunny beaches of Andalusia and the grand mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this city is quite literally surrounded by natural beauty. Granada is also home to La Alhambra, an ancient palatial city dating back as far as 900 AD. Now it is a UNESCO World Heritage sight and a mecca for tourists and students of empirical history.
Prior to our trip, Joni had a student tell her that this place is stunning in the sunlight. Unfortunately for us, our visit was cloudy and misty. Still, it was a different kind of ambiance that guided our steps through the historic grounds where Columbus received the commission to set sail toward America.
Like much of the rest of the town, La Alhambra sports Moorish architecture - a reminder of Spain's history fraught with undulating empirical rule. The hallmarks of this style are the easily recognizable doorways along with bright tiles decking the walls and floors.
In addition to the main palace building, the grounds of La Alhambra feature sprawling multi-terraced gardens that were stunning even in the winter. We could only imagine how spectacular this place must be in full bloom!
This is the view from one of several "miradors" in Granada - vantage points from which we could look out over the city. If the day were less cloudy, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada could be seen in the distance.
Not wanting to miss out on the chance to see snow, we boarded a bus from the city that wound up a rather steep road to a ski resort. Since our time was so short we did not end up on the slopes, but the ride alone was worth it for the mountain landscapes.
We stopped to get some hot chocolate at a café on the mountain, and of all the things that could have adorned the wall, we found an Arizona license plate!
Extraordinary, no? We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but not nearly as much as a young boy of perhaps eight sitting a couple seats in front of us on the bus. He was with his grandpa, and recording a video for his mother. Words can't possibly capture the excitement, but here are some of the memorable phrases we overheard:
"This is phenomenal!"
"I cannot believe how high we are!"
"Look at all that snow!"
"What if this bus turned into a plane?!"
"I have so many questions for God when I get to heaven, like, how did he do all of this!"
It was quite the trip, and we won't soon forget the earnest and gleeful affinity this boy possessed for the majestic mountains.
Memorable Meal: We both heard from several people prior to traveling that Granada is known for its tapas culture. Unlike most of Madrid, where one must pay for and order specific tapas dishes, almost every bar or café will serve up a complimentary mystery dish with the purchase of any drink. So for dinner one night, we decided to try our luck with a handful of eateries. Over the course of three different stops, we received ham sandwiches, weird home-made bagels with fries, and bread with olive oil and thinly sliced pork chop. This is apparently the thing to do, and there were more than enough places to plop down and soak in the local scene.
En la clase: Both Joni and I had the pleasure of taking a free Spanish class this week from student-teachers at La Aventura Española. It was the first time I had been in a formal class setting for almost four months, and it was such a different experience after having been on the teaching side of things for so long. The more I teach, the more I empathize with anyone who dares to have embarked on this perhaps foolhardy endeavor. Both of our classes were wonderful, however, and we look forward to the next chance at being guinea pigs.
On the English side of things, our lessons this week focused on relationships and dating in honor of Valentine's Day. Regardless of the level, each class played a version of "spin the bottle" where students constructed questions about love and romance. There was some confusion initially when I asked if anyone had heard of the game. One student nonchalantly proclaimed that his son plays this all the time, at which point I realized he was thinking of the bottle flipping craze that has stirred youths the world over into a nonsensical frenzy. Once cleared up, the classes seemed to have a good time spinning the bottle and asking one another not-too-inappropriate questions. Another word that perhaps never fully conveyed was "crush." Joni and I each heard students opine that such a word and even a concept doesn't exist in Spanish. It is a very direct culture, but I have a hard time believing that any inkling of attraction is bluntly professed at the earliest opportunity! Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Joni taught a student how to sew. Here's the heart that Ignacio (hands pictured) stitched upon with guidance:
Final Notes: While we had intended to count Granada as our Valentine's present to each other, Joni and I did end up going the route of exchanging gifts as well. The bounty? A bag full of scrumptious dried fruit and adorable panda card (complete with a poem in Spanish) for me, and an interactive virtual reality pop-up book with a paper model of the Madrid skyline for Joni. Much like Halloween, this commercialized holiday is a relative novelty to Spain and hasn't really taken root in the country. Nevertheless we had a beautifully understated evening celebrating our love on a day to which Spaniards seem largely indifferent.
Exploring the City: This week marked our first visit to a Spanish hospital...because Cat had her baby! Violet Alivia entered the world on February 5th, which means she was born on my half birthday. We were primed and ready to take care of Ben and Cat's dog Andazi, and after attending to her with an afternoon walk we set out for the hospital. This particular hospital was private, and I guess that means security is really relaxed. We weren't sure what to do or where to go upon arriving - there wasn't a clear reception area, so we simply walked into the maternity ward and into their room. Mom, Dad and baby are all doing well, though only one member of the family seems to be dictating the sleep schedule. Even Andazi has purportedly been more restless than usual, as she seems to have taken on the roll of a protective older sibling.
I'm the big sister!
Memorable Meal: While we've mostly been able to keep in touch with family through regularly scheduled calls on the weekend, it can be a bit more difficult to coordinate schedules with friends back in the states. Last week we called our DC-based friends Rose, Eric, Julie and Dean at 1:30 AM for a dinner date. We used to gather in person with these people, and Joni and I didn't see why a couple thousand miles and a six hour time difference should get in the way. It was already a late night for us both, and so we didn't really have dinner. Our meal consisted of lentil salad and jamón potato chips - admittedly not as good as the home made pizza and cookies our friends had prepared across the sea. The weirdest part of the whole experience is how normal it all seemed, which is a testament to the strength of these friendships despite extremes in distance and time.
En la clase: This year was the first time either of us had been out of the country during the Superbowl. It's not like either of us are huge football fans, but the lack of ceremony surrounding the game was something we hadn't encountered. Since the most memorable part of the game for most of America consists of the ad-watching experience, we took this opportunity to give classes on commercials (with additional talk of the game's cultural impact in the country). To my surprise, even in the increasingly flattening world, very few students had any knowledge whatsoever about the game. A few knew that it was an American football match, but almost no one had a clue about the prevalence/importance of the advertisements. Soccer is by far the dominant sport in Spain, and I realized that this sport really doesn't lend itself to breaks in the action. There are adds at half time, but that's about it. The concept of a "television timeout" was baffling to most students, and even after a lot of discussion I think everyone felt rather justified in their ignorance.
I started the first one-on-one intercambio this week with my former student Maite. This is similar to the idea of the language exchange we sometimes attend, but in a less distracting setting. I spoke in Spanish for about 20 minutes, and then we switched to speaking in English. It was a much needed dose of conversation with someone who wouldn't switch to English at the first sign that Spanish was not indeed my mother tongue. I look forward to improving my confidence in conversation as these meetings continue.
Lost in Translation: The focus of our Superbowl lessons were the "Crash the Superbowl" contest that Doritos ran for 10 years, wherein the company asked for user-submitted commercials to appear in the Superbowl ad slot. Doritos are widely available in Spain, and so Joni and I were both surprised to find that our students didn't know about the brand. With further probing and after writing the name on the board, we discovered that it was simply the pronunciation that was off. Joni and I both have a natural "tapped t" - meaning that in many words the letter t sounds much more like a 'duh' than 'tuh.' So we talked about 'doridohs' only to be met with blank stares, and after writing the word out the students exuded revelatory exclamations of 'oh, doritoes'!
Most products we find ourselves desiring can easily be found in Spain, but every now and again something stumps us. Such is the case with packs of colored construction paper. There are several paper supply stores that sell single sheets, but we thought it would be more efficient to buy one pack to last the rest of the year. Joni placed an order on Amazon, and a few days later a package arrived. Unfortunately, the paper we received was the size of index cards! After checking the order it was evident that this was indeed the size we had ordered, but we can't understand why anyone would spend so much money on such small paper. Joni was very disappointed, though it did remind us of an episode of This American Life(the first story of the show linked here) where a woman ordered what she thought was a gorgeous dining room table, but turned out to be a doll-house sized table from Ebay.
Final Notes: Once again laughing in the face of time zones, we attempted to watch the Super bowl live. It started at 12:30 AM Madrid time, and I was able to find a fairly reliable stream that included commercials. Here is a picture of our spread, complete with apples, dip, chips & salsa, limón soda and Andazi:
We watched until the live stream gave out about half way through the third quarter, at which point we were very tired and felt certain the game was in the bag. Congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons on a decisive pounding of the Patriots!
Lost in Translation:
I had maybe the most perplexing "lost in translation" encounter to date this week, and it was partially because the incident was spread out over two interactions.
1) One morning as I returned from a run, I saw a familiar looking man in the lobby of our building. We'd never had a conversation before, but I am pretty sure we've exchanged brief pleasantries coming and going. He smiled, and as I was uttering my rote "Hola" he began launching into something about my shoes. I thought he was saying that he liked them and that they looked sturdy, but honestly I was not getting a lot. He was talking very quickly and mumbling, and seemed impervious to my pleas to proceed more slowly. After a few attempts of conveying my lack of understanding, I smiled and told him I had to go. He seemed at first to let it go, but as I was stepping into the elevator he started talking again and once more said something about my shoes.
2) Two days later, I was entering the building in the early afternoon when I saw the same man. Again, he was sort of loitering in the breezeway, but this time he had a large black trash bag. The garbage bins are taken out in the evening, and so perhaps he had the timing down and was just waiting for the bins. He recognized me, and again gestured to my shoes (which were not the same shoes I had worn during our previous encounter). I tried once more to slow his speech, and either he didn't understand me or frankly didn't care to alter this natural part of daily life for the benefit of some Anglo interloper. Regardless, he continued at a brisk clip as I stood there not comprehending anything. As I had done before, I smiled and apologized and started to walk away. This time the man mentioned that there were some shoes through the door near the elevator (which accesses the tiny intra-building courtyard space below the various clotheslines in the building). Had he found a lost pair of shoes? Was he trying to sell me shoes? I may never know. But I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of this man, and if I ever manage to interpret his message I'll be sure to keep you all posted.
Memorable Meal:
This week we ventured to the first Australian restaurant I've ever been aware of patronizing, where we met up with Joni's former Spanish teacher (and current friend!) Teresa. Passing on the vegamite featured on the menu, Joni opted for avocado toast and fresh orange juice while I sampled a pastry topped with raspberries and a golden milk latte made with turmeric. My meal was fairly disappointing, but Joni enjoyed her food and it was a cute restaurant with a nice breakfast atmosphere.
Exploring the City:
This past Saturday we attended our first choir rehearsal! Teresa sings in a choir, and mentioned that they needed some more voices. The choir meets in the architecture school of a university, since many of the members are architects. The building is funky and constantly undergoing changes, which makes sense given the occupants. We met the conductor and had a brief and informal audition singing scales. I was sent to the tenor section for the first time since fifth grade, and was pleasantly surprised by the range I was able to reach. Joni was labeled a soprano and was flabbergasted by the range she was forced into reaching (and she managed it with aplomb, garnering praise from her fellow soprano). The entire two hour rehearsal was in Spanish, and we were actually able to follow most everything. It helps that musical terms are universal, and we found our section-mates to be quite kind in guiding us back to the correct place. Sure, there were more than a few moments where Joni and I exchanged clueless glances as the entire room erupted with laughter, but we're fairly sure they weren't laughing at us. It was so nice to be back in that familiar structure, and we are elated to continue rehearsing and eventually performing with this group.
Riding high after our weekend in London, we ventured forth on our first Spanish theatre outing this weekend. I'd like to say that this was spurred on by an insane boost of our language skills, but in truth the tickets came courtesy of one of Joni's actor/students. A student asked Joni for help with pronouncing a few lines (that happened to be in English) for an upcoming show, and this week we were both invited to a performance of the play. It was, hands down, the longest sustained period of Spanish I've taken in at one time. We watch TV shows or movies in Spanish, but we have the luxury of pausing to look up a word or discuss the plot with each other. This was a fairly confusing show to begin with, as it centered around a hair salon haunted by an adult film star, and there were more than a few moments where I was completely lost. But the theatre was packed and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Oh, and I should mention that the show started at 11:15 (PM!), which likely did not aid in our comprehension of the material.
In what is swiftly becoming a happy Madrid tradition, Joni and I took in another late-night Wednesday film. I met up with Joni after her final class, and we walked about 1.5 miles towards the venue. It was a nice night, and despite the inhumane incline that rises just behind the palace, it was a wonderful jaunt past some beautifully lit buildings and parks. This week we saw "Hidden Figures," which left us much more impressed than we were after "La La Land." It's an excellent story of quiet courage in the face of ignorance, and both of us marveled at the capacity of the human mind to make the precise calculations necessary to boomerang a living being up to space and back again.
Who’s Coming to Dinner:
This Sunday, Ben and Cat joined us for lunch after church. It was perhaps the last time they will be here before their baby arrives, as Cat is due on February 6th. We supped on "cheeseburger soup" (made with ground turkey and, while delicious, nothing like a cheeseburger) and had some delectable snicker doodle cookies for dessert. After procuring an extra deck of cards on our recent trip to London, we were excited to teach our friends to play Pounce. Similar to Dutch Blitz, Pounce is a fast-paced card game with a long history in the Yost family. Legend has it that a great aunt once pounced so hard that she broke her wrist. We played several rounds and at one point Cat said it was making her so anxious that she felt physically exhausted. No broken bones and no early deliveries, but it was still a good time.
En la clase:
I picked up a new class this week - a group of six upper-intermediate men working in Deloitte. It's the first all-male group class I've ever had, and after just one meeting I can tell it's going to be a very different flavor than anything I've had yet. The first student who arrived asked if I liked basketball (which, in fact, I love) and proceeded to confess that he found soccer somewhat slow unless he cared about the team. He also told me he owns a Charles Barkley jersey - something that I can't claim, even as a lifelong Suns fan and longtime Arizona resident. It will be fun to work with these students, and a challenge to elevate a group class to a high level of conversation.
Joni created and delivered a class this week that she thinks may be her all-time best ESL class- a Guess Who? themed lesson! This introduced a lot of vocabulary dealing with physical features, then set students to the task of drawing the face of a crazy picture described by another student, based on a picture provided. Pictures below:
Final Notes:
We covered a lot this week, so I'll just leave you all with this candid photo Joni snapped on the metro:
"We love!! everybody have inside a beautiful soul!!" Clearly our work as English teachers is far from complete.
