What I learned in Spain...

As I’m sitting here in my fabulous air-conditioned hotel room, watching TV for the first time in 5 weeks, I started reflecting on my trip and what I’ve learned.

My certificate of completion!!

I learned SOO much from my classes and despite this being a really tough experience for me for a number of different reasons, I am so, so glad that I came and started this master’s degree. From my classes, I learned that the siffix “-ísimo” didn't appear in the Spanish language until the 16^th century; I learned the basics of the different writing genres from 1898- the Spanish Civil War; I learned a different way of approaching the dreaded subjunctive mood; I learned all about Franco’s 40 year dictatorship in Spain; I learned new teaching pedagogy (both from direct instruction and just observing my amazing teachers in action!)…. I learned too much to possibly list (or recall after my brain has been thoroughly fried). 

But, I also learned a lot outside of class. I learned that…

Spaniards are loud, and all my professors admitted this cultural stereotype. After 7 weeks, I never got used to the noise. I’m a quiet person that has enough noise in my head from my thoughts… I can’t stand a loud environment.

I love being a student. I love learning. But I’m also a very serious student and get annoyed and can’t understand why other people don’t take the classes as seriously as I do (and talk all through class!!). Fortunately I found a fellow nerd in my class, Emily, and we quickly realized how much we had in common: we’re both serious students who like to do well on tests, both teach in pretty rigorous private high schools, both were very quiet in class but commented many times how it’s not our normal personality to be so reserved—it’s just because we were so out of our comfort zones. She was the perfect academic-partner-in-crime for me because she definitely knew more than me, but was great about answering my random questions without ever making me feel dumb!! I am definitely grateful I met her in class!!

Emily and I in class. I knew I would get along well with her when I saw that she uses the same pens and has the same handwriting as my beloved Kipley!

The “murse” (a.k.a. man-purse) is really popular in Spain (and I imagine the rest of Europe). My prediction is that it’s only a matter of time before the trend arrives in the States. Christmas present idea for my brother & brother-in-law…. Ha!! I’m imagining the two of them being trend-setters and carrying murses around… I think they would both rather die!!

Carmen the history goddess!! Isn't she just adorable?

We all know that a teacher can make or break a class. Fortunately I liked all but one of my teachers, and we only had her “youtube” class for 5 hours. The rest of my teachers were amazing; truly experts in their field, each with unique teaching styles, but so caring and patient with us. I have never been a fan of history classes, but my history teacher was absolutely wonderful. In addition to being so cute you just wanted to put her in your back pocket and taker her with you everywhere you go, her teaching style was absolutely flawless. You know you’re doing something right when your students want you to keep going with your story even though class is over and you get a standing ovation at the end of the program!!

 I am reminded what an amazing support network I have of family of friends. There were times that I missed home so badly it hurt, but the constant love and emails and comments truly were what got me through the program! Once again, thank you!!

7 weeks away from home was too long for me. I used to be the ultimate nomad, never living in one place for longer than a year, usually less. But now that I’m settled in our house, being away from home for so long was really hard for me. And 2 weeks was probably also a little too long to subject Matt to a world where he couldn’t speak for himself or understand anything. He was a trooper though!

The better my Spanish gets, the worse my English spelling becomes.

The older I get, the more “me” time I need. Next summer I may have to rent an apartment instead of staying in the dorms… that way I could also cook for myself instead of subjecting myself to the cafeteria food. 

Just a normal "vegetarian" meal at the cafeteria: potatoes (every day!!), iceburg lettuce salad, and canned asparagus (sounds decent, but it was horrible!!) Notice the monochromatic color scheme!?!? I'm sure you're thinking to yourself that it doesn't look that bad... oh, but it was!!

And finally, I learned some important lessons being on the student side of the system: I will be extra, extra conscious to make sure that everyone's learning needs are being met with my classroom management style and to only put questions on tests from the material that is really important and that I want the students to remember for more than 5 minutes after the test. No more random, tricky questions just to "see if they really studied"!!

I'm just a day's traveling away from being home and settled back into my life. There are definitely things I will miss about Salamanca and my life as a student, but I'm ready to be back on the teacher side of things!

Until next summer...