TEFLees in Spain

My parents did finally make it in okay, after all the months of planning and whatnot, and I have to say the weekend was a great success. It was fun to show off my newly acquired Spanish skills, or at least to boost my confidence in knowing that for once, my Spanish was better than the rest of the group, which left me in charge for the first time of the communication process. In the end really I realized that all the stress and worry was totally unwarranted. Having been here for so long, I’d forgotten how exciting this city can be to a fresh pair of eyes, and how the littlest things, from the dirtiest café to the intersection jugglers, to the dozens of fountains and plazas, to the busy hustling and drama of the Spanish themselves, is impossible not to fascinate.

Five days is quite a short amount of time to squeeze in all that Madrid has to offer, and as anyone who’s lived here can attest, five months won’t get you much closer to fully understanding and appreciating this city and its inhabitants either. As a friend of mine who’s been living here for a while related, “Even after five years here, after all the classes I’ve taught and all the nights out with Spanish friends, I have to admit that I’m not even close to understanding the Spanish people in their entirety.” It is indeed a complex and fascinating culture worth taking time to study and explore, but in five nights we did all we could do – walking and watching and stuffing ourselves with beer, wine, and massive varieties of tapas. The weather couldn’t have been more cooperative for early spring, and our day trips to Toledo and Segovia acted as pleasantly surprising contrasts to the modernity of Spain’s capital. In the end it was really more about enjoying each other’s company than sprinting from site to site, and I had to laugh at myself when they left for ever having worried that any sane person could ever be bored for five nights in this sleepless city.