Professor Sharon

Hola from Granada!

This past Saturday we enjoyed our last day in Seville with souvenir hunting (can’t tell you what we bought until the recipients receive them!), but thank goodness we left some extra room in our luggage.

We also, after some reading, choose a flamenco show to go to as our send off to Seville. It was a tourist spot in the Santa Cruz area near the Cathedral and was quite good. Designed for tourists, but clearly a small family devoted to the art and everyone had a part! It was really exciting. We were just two rows away from their feet and wonderful to watch.

Sunday we spent packing and sitting on benches after we checked out of the hotel waiting for our train. We had reserved seats but there’s no first class between Seville and Granada. It was fine until we got off in Granada. The huge crowd trying to get on the train wouldn’t give way to those getting off – what a madhouse. Rich had the smaller bags and got off, then I was literally jammed half way down the train steps with a 45 pound bag in front of me — I had to push it into people’s bodies to get down the steps – then I was trapped. Rich had to leave his bag and push back through the crowd to help me drag my bag against the crowd. Crazy!

We found a taxi (thought ahead and wrote the address of our homestay on a piece of paper); but the driver could make no sense of it. He called the dispatcher; then attempted to ask us more about it (no English, no Spanish). But in the end he was incredibly kind. He got us to a complicated apartment complex, and called the schools’ office. The school was no help and told him to call the hostess. It was Spaniards in action — we don’t have much Spanish but we could tell he was telling her off! He then called our hostess for us; and her daughter came down to get us.

By now it was about 9 at night – our hostess gave us a delicious dinner and we went to bed. We are on the 9th floor of an apartment complex.

Now, the funny part! We have what was clearly a child’s room – two small barely twin beds, a dresser, an armoire! We’re clearly students now! Our hostess is a lovely woman, proud of her family and a great cook! I think this is where we will gain speaking skills. She talks quite fast most of the time, but this morning was clearly putting us through our paces with – reasking us our names, our children’s names, our ages, etc. in slow Spanish. We even managed a few sentence exchange about Presidents of both countries!

We started classes yesterday – 4 hours every afternoon. This is a photo of the student’s Salon (hang -out space). We’re hoping they switch us to mornings next week as it doesn’t allow for much sightseeing.

Now a word to my students: I’m pretty sure the last couple of days has felt to me like some of you have felt the first days you’ve come to campus: you don’t speak the language, don’t know the culture of what is appropriate, don’t know where the bathrooms are even. Yesterday was scary to me in many ways; not of bodily safety, but of how do I get my way through this and can I? I was reminded of my favorite theorist: Howard Gardner.

I had the privilege in the 80s of meeting him when he came to a school I taught at in Connecticut (Mead School). His phrase has been published since, but he told the teachers there that our school was a good place because we understood that it is not “are children smart?” but “how are they smart?”

I, like any learner, doubt my abilities at times; but I know it’s not “Can I learn this language?”, but what is the best way to go about learning it. After two classes with a great teacher, I think I’m making progress! I know even 2 months in this country won’t make me fluent, but I do now see that at least I’ll be able to have a short conversation with someone and even order my wine without the phrase book in my hand for security!