Pampered in Pamplona

A bit more than a week ago now, all of the Fulbrighters in Madrid descended on the Atocha train station. For the first time since orientation in September all of us had gathered in one place, and this time we were bound for the city of Pamplona in the northern region of Navarra where we would meet up with the rest of the Fulbrights who had set out for other parts of Spain and Andorra for our mid-year meeting.

We filled a couple coaches in the RENFE train that carried us from one city to the other. While on board, the Commission handed us folders of conference information and a bit of money for ‘incidentals,’ the few meals that we wouldn’t be eating as a group. We watched the Spanish countryside zip by and soon arrived at our hotel just in time for lunch: the best salad I had eaten yet in Spain with spinach, pine nuts, cranberries and other delights accompanied by the obligatory pork and potatoes and too much wine for an early afternoon when we were to stay awake for opening sessions at the Universidad Pública de Navarra.

We were on the front page of Pamplona's newspaper. Later on, while loitering outside on one of our many coffee breaks, a man and his dog walked up to the little group I was with and told us he had seen us. "I recognized her hair," he said, pointing at Charleen. It's true. She's got great hair. I'm in the white sweater with a scarf in the middle of the right side between Leah and Janel.

Luckily a coffee break followed our welcoming session, after which we heard from four of the Fulbright Senior Lecturers, university professors currently teaching and researching in Spain, most of whom have recently arrived for the spring term. One teaches American literature and film in Madrid, another Latin American lit in Barcelona. The other two are researching: one Spanish identity in relation to Latin American refugee history and the other sustainability issues in sheepherding valleys of the North. Though their introductions were followed by Q&A, it wasn’t until we were leaving the city days later that I realized what I wanted to ask them: How do you do it? How do you move to Spain for a year once you’ve settled in so many other ways? Balance your career and your personal life?

Anyhow, later that night back at the hotel two Fulbrights serenaded us with voice and violin at yet another wine reception.

The next morning we broke up into small groups to discuss our projects. My group joined Laura from Cultural Affairs at the Embassy to talk about our experiences as ETAs. Most of us were from schools in Madrid, but a few were from Cantábria, along the northern coast of Spain. We had a positive discussion, and I enjoyed hearing stories from those working in primary schools and learning about Cantábria’s Global Classrooms program, which involves a series of regional conferences that we don’t do in Madrid. As the bilingual program in the Comunidad de Madrid grows, however, I would expect that enough schools will want to participate that dividing the conference up will prove necessary.

Then our schedule whisked us off for a reception with the mayor of Pamplona and a tour of the Palacio de Navarra’s throne room. We were free to wander off for lunch before meeting up at the bullring to board the buses back to the university where we broke into our groups again. This time my group focused specifically on our experiences running the Global Classrooms program. All of the ETAs also had a meeting with Paula from the Commission (one of the happiest, energetic women you could ever hope to meet), who wanted to share with us the ideas the Commission had come up with since we had sent in our midterm evaluations. Overall, it seems the biggest concern the auxiliares had, at least in the beginning, was a lack of definition about our role in the classroom.

Fulbright ETAs from IES Máximo Trueba. I work with some amazing chicas.

It’s understandable. Many of the schools, at least in Madrid, were new to the bilingual program this fall. Many of the teachers in the program were also new to their assigned schools and the very idea of teaching in English. I think I’ve been luckier than most in being assigned a school that has been part of the program for many years, so even as I’ve been figuring out my role by trial and error, I’ve had supportive teachers, and by now have worked out which teachers I can go to with my questions and which need me to be a little more direct in working out my place in their classes.

Personally, I wouldn’t say that our positions need to be more defined; I think part of the Fulbright experience is figuring that out as we go. But then again, that’s how I do most things, and I was lucky in talking to the auxiliares who had been at my school the year before, who assured me that patience would be necessary at the beginning while I sorted out my life at school and in Spain in general. This fact that one’s role depends so much on the individual herself, her assigned institution and each class is also one of the program’s weaknesses, though. Every fall almost the entire posse of auxiliares changes. A few may stay, but not enough to provide any consistency within the schools.

After a round table discussion with a representative ETA from each region (Andorra, Cantábria, Valencia and Madrid), we headed back to the hotel for another delicious dinner: more exquisite salads topped with dates, a fish dish and vino of course.

The next morning we heard individual presentations from the researchers. From humanities to sciences, history to astrobiology, their topics captivated the audience. A brief description of how to go about searching for microscopic life on Mars, the history of the Spanish health care system, the beginnings of a historical fiction novel set in Catalunya, a few phonetics tricks useful for teaching young English language learners, a series of paintings on one’s identity as a foreigner...the list stretched on.

We had the last afternoon to ourselves, and a few of us wandered about the old section snapping some touristy fotos and eventually making a couple pintxos stops. (Remember the delicious pintxos, northern Spain’s version of tapas, from the Basque province and La Rioja in December? Just as good.) Dinner later was at a vegetarian restaurant: another yummy salad (Can you tell I’m craving veggies lately?), “meatballs” made from lentils with an avocado sauce and cheesecake with cider this time, my body having reached its limit for Navarran wine.

I think everyone returned from Pamplona feeling pampered and appreciated, reminded that what we’re doing here does actually matter. As an ETA, it’s easy to forget that being a Fulbright is an honor. I mean, I’m not doing academic research. I spend my day to day having conversations with thirteen year olds like this one from yesterday:

-Student: Can I go to the toilet?

-Me: Can you wait two minutes? The bell’s about to ring.

-Student: Noooooo. Please?

-Me: I’m pretty sure you can wait. Two seconds, seriously.

-Student: One. Two. Please? And can she (pointing to the girl sitting next to her) come with me?

-Me: I think you can handle it on your own.

-Student: But noooooo. I need her to come.

Of course, there’s the moments when the students astound me, too, like the science lesson in which we split into groups to read about different types of alternative energies and present our findings to the whole class. One of the girls in the solar energy group called out, “Teacher, but I don’t understand how to answer this question!” (What is solar energy?) In passing, while running to answer other questions, I told her we just wanted a short summary of the idea, not all of the details that the reading gave, and I didn’t manage to get back to her before her group presented. She spoke first, and gave us a spectacular explanation of solar fusion, complete with diagrams she drew on the board.

Moments like that are the highlight of my time at school, and who knows...maybe someday she’ll be the one presenting astrobiology research at an international conference.

It's impossible not to feel special, when you've been invited to a reception in the throne room of an old world castle.