Ronda, España
Ronda, Spain
Nuestra nueva clase lección española
We have been very fortunate to meet some wonderful people who have helped us settle in Ronda. It all began with the Hotel San Cayetano and Enrique and Alberto who continue to support us when we have questions. “Let’s go to the hotel and ask them,” seems to be part of a day or just to say, “Hola amigos, que tal?” I wrote previously that on one visit, because the internet had gone down at the apartment, we met another hotel employee, Natalia and she recommended Entrelengua for Spanish classes.
Nuestra profesora, Mar
Our profesora is Mar who studied at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (California), which is a graduate school of Middlebury College (her Vermont connection), Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and a graduate of the University of Granada here in Spain. She’s an EXTROVERT! Lots of energy, personality, and fun to be around. The class is entirely in Spanish, save for the 1% we need in English. At the moment we are alone but next Tuesday a couple from Texas, who have been in the class but had gone to Denmark, are returning.
What’s nice about Mar’s approach is she uses variety, multiple ways to improve one’s language skills outside the classroom. Last Thursday she had a gathering of locals and students view art presented by a local artist. We met a lady, Kid, from Amsterdam taking lessons too and were able to communicate easily with her. Of course many in the Netherlands speak English as a second language so some of the conversation became Spanglish.
Before I begin my concern about foreign language instruction, I’ll preface my remarks by telling you about Joanna and Monika which emphasises the point and which my friend Barb Shipman will appreciate. Two young ladies from Poland popped into the gathering that evening and were speaking with Alejandro who also works at the school. They were conversing in English and so we got into the conversation. Their English was excellent, and they come from a country that has lots of z’s and y’s and few vowels, kind of like this:
Drogi Nadawco,
Uprzejmie informuję, że do 12 listopada przebywam poza biurem, i będę miała ograniczony dostęp do skrzynki mailowej.
Joanna and Monika from Poland
Well maybe more vowels than I remember. Where did they study English? TV and movies. Alejandro speaks his native Spanish, English, German, and French, all from TV and movies.
Now the concern. When I was in the third grade in Barre, Vermont with Miss Trentini and were told we’d have French lessons weekly. I’m not sure if Barre’s school system was a national leader or not but Mrs. Slayton and later Miss Genini and Mrs. Mariotti came to our classrooms and we had French. At the time I never understood the oppotunity that was being offered but looking back it was great. I even represented Barre with other students at the teacher’s convention in 6th grade demonstating our prowess in a foreign language. I did some more French and Spanish in high school and college but never really was determined to speak another language. Bad choice. But in some regards this is the culture the US. We don’t seem to imbrace the idea of us communication with them. Its they have to communicate with us. The global economy is just that global and if you have the ability to speak language(s) the door of opportunity will open wider. Our friend’s son Parker is at Colorado State University and is studying Chinese. He went to China as a high school student and now will be going back as a college student. Kathleen, another former student, married a gentleman who is with the State Department Foreign Service as a language specialist in Chinese. They have lived in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and now live in Vietnam, yes Vietnam, where my Uncle Sam wanted to send me in 1969 and Nike makes running shoes today. Languages bring you in contact with a culture and cultures do things differently, not better not worse, but differently, and different is what makes life exciting. We had two languages at Barre Town when I taught there, French and Spanish. They are down to one, español. And even that has been diluted to less time. Other countries immerse their students in a foreign language. We have a high school in Ronda that teaches in English. I know we live in Europe and everyday we hear foreign languages, you name it we have it. Cindy and I were sitting on a bench when two young people mistook us for Spaniards and asked for directions, in Spanish. I gave them some Spanglish and they came back in English. I’m done.
Cambio (Change)
This isn’t about the world moving at a faster pace but what’s in your pocket, purse, or a large container at home. Also, this isn’t a problem just one of those cultural differences. Back in the US I used a debit card almost exclusively and seldom carried large amounts of cash. Here I seldom use a debit card, which bring us to change. Our euro coins are in cents 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and euros 1 and 2. We have no paper notes less than 5 euros, but we do have a 500 euro note. I have none of these. So this is how is works. If the price is €3,60, yes a comma not a period here, and depending on what you have for change, you should give as much change as you have to meet the price. The €3,60 price above was in a small store for a purchase of some goodies. I had a 1 and 2 euro coin and various change in my pocket, including 1, 2, 10, 20, and 50 cent denominations. So the easy way was a 10 and 50 cent coin. Since all my change was visible in my hand the young lady saw what I had and said no. This totally confused me, cost €3,60 and gave her the exact amount. Ah, but not the number of coins. She then picked out 2 coins that were 5 cents each, 3 coins that are 10 cents, and a 20 cent coin for a total of 6 coins equaling 60 cents versus my solution of 2 coins for 60 cents. Mathematically we arrived at the same station but took a different train.
Euro coins
Kamp (Nothing to do with Spain)
November 15th is the opening of deer season in Vermont and I’ve been hunting since I was 12 or 13. I used to go with my dad and my uncles and cousin Chuckie. My grandfather (not biological but emotionally) bought me my first gun, a .22 and later a 300 Savage that I hunted with for 54 years.
In 1976 after teaching at Barre Town School I joined a hunting Kamp with my school friends who invited me to become part of the group. They had built the Kamp the year before and one of the original members, Gay Sweet who also worked at school, had unexpectedly passed away. So I joined along with JJ another teacher from school. So the gang was myself, JJ, Rod, Stevie, Jim, and Mal.
The Kamp wasn’t much, but was toasty warm in the fall and winter with our propane stove and woodstove, and a place to go on a weekend in the spring and summer. We didn’t actually have the Kamp to ourselves but shared it with the mice who came and went, some on there own and others to mice hell.
We lost Mal in 1995 and his son Brian became a member of our group. Most of us had taught him in school and he had hunted with us as youngster, and it was nice to have a piece of Mal still in the group. It was a generational change, but not really a change at all.
Stories and sayings abound from our time there, “Fisher Cat Hill”, “Big Ass Lil”, “Brucester the Rooster”, “Goodnight John Boy”, “If it’s brown it’s down”, “Have a snort Mort”, “What ya dragging”? “My ass!”? Listening to WDEV and the “Second Week of Deer Camp” was a tradition. These stories and sayings were repeated year after year and never got old. Friends came to hunt or have a beer: Pat, Mark, Andy, Ralph, Drew, Bart, Jim, Bill all joined us a various times.
In the early years we had a kerosene stove to cook and heat the Kamp. We’re probably fortunate to be alive from that experience. Later we added gas and electricity from the generator and made the Kamp a second home. Right JJ?
So JJ moved to North Carolina, I’m in Spain, and the Kamp needs upkeep. JJ was the man for this and kept an eye on repairs; he was like a “McGiver”, using odds and ends to keep the Kamp going.
We’ve sold the land and the Kamp and in some ways have lost an old friend. Thanks for the memories, “And a good time was had by all.”
Our España 