http://picasaweb.google.com/mary.dellenbach -- pictures (updating... slowly...)
Hello, dear friends!
Well, the adventure has ended--I'm back home in Minnesota, and have been for about two months. Most of that time I spent completely engrossed in my thesis, which I finally finished and turned in! I don't know quite how so much time has passed, but I still catch myself thinking of wandering down through Madrid's city center to see what deals I can find at the book fair, do another photographic study of the Cibeles fountain, or sniff out some exquisite chocolates in my old neighborhood. And then someone asks me a question and I barely realize in time that I can't answer in Spanish. It's been a bit of an odd homecoming: wonderful to see family, and sprinkled with a couple joyous weddings, but a lot of locking myself inside and typing, and a fair amount of visiting my uncle in the hospital, where he's been all summer. I know we would all appreciate any thoughts or prayers you could send his way.
I've delayed writing up until now in part because reminiscing of Spain makes me rather homesick, and in part because I didn't want the lure of luncheons and leisurely phone calls to distract me from my all-consuming thesis. But now it's finally DONE! The approximately 90-page book contains the short story I wrote in Spanish, the translation I did into English, and an analysis on the problems and advantages of self-translation. The theory part took me forever, and comparing my own method of "normal" translation with the liberties I took translating my own work was also a bit time consuming, but it's finally, finally finished. A very good feeling. A bit longer than the average, too, but the story and its translation take up a good 40 pages on their own, which leaves me with a normal-length master's thesis.
After my last update, Spain has dominated in sports. I wish I could have been there to see them win the EuroCup soccer championship (their first major championship in 40 years), but I was able to share the quarterfinal victory frenzy with my roommates the night before I left. It also would have been fun to watch Nadal win Wimbledon while I was still over there, but tennis doesn't quite hold the same status as soccer, so it wouldn't have been quite as crazy. (I almost typed football... guess I've been in Europe too long!) That's not to say my adventures didn't continue in my last several months in Spain, though.
I went on one more trip for work with large groups of NYU undergrads: to Ciudad Rodrigo (Spanish border town), Almeida (Portuguese border town), and Salamanca. Once again, I enjoyed free delicious food, including the Portuguese delicacy of bacalao dorado, basically shredded cod with cheese and potatos--absolutely delicious, though some of the undergrads complained it didn't look fancy enough. All I can say is the relative maturity of many of those students didn't measure up to what I expected based on my experience at St. Ben's. Several danced to their iPods while we were on a tour of the cathedral in Ciudad Rodrigo, and they didn't care who told them to stop. But it was a lovely city with a beautiful overlook of a river and the surrounding countryside, and Almeida was even more wonderful. If you google it, you'll see that it's enclosed by city walls in the shape of a twelve-pointed star. Unfortunately, you can't quite see that from the ground, but the town itself was more than enough to see, even though it was very small. An old cemetary with weatherworn white crosses surrounded by bright red poppies was my favorite corner. Our visit to Salamanca included all the basics: the old Gothic cathedral, complete with intricate carvings around the main doorway (which include an astronaut and ice cream-eating dragon, both added in repair work five or ten years ago); the old university (a couple students: "Is this Oxford?" "Yeah, sure, we walked to London." .......); and the stately Plaza Mayor, which was filled with electronics equipment for a concert that night. I caught the tail end of it--just in time to hear what I think was a group of Austrians singing American rock ballads. A bit odd. As with previous trips for work, the highlights were (a) getting to know more corners of Spain for free, and (b) going out to delicious meals for wonderful conversation with the professors. Again, for free. I certainly had about the best possible deal imaginable.
My last months in Madrid were highlighted by more linguistic craziness with my dear roommates, a lovely Jorge Drexler concert, the 200th anniversary of the Spanish uprising against Napoleonic France on May 2, and the festival of Madrid's patron saint, San Isidro. The whole week of May 2 was filled with spectacles and events inspired by Goya's paintings, including half a dozen horses (trained to rear on command!) racing through the Plaza Mayor, a giant puzzle in front of the Royal Palace, and an impressive aerial display of acrobatics and fireworks at Cibeles. On the feast of San Isidro I went to the Retiro park for a fountain, lights, and firework show. Some of the fountains were giant arcs of water, and others little more than mist--into which they projected movies of dancers and horses running. Very impressive.
As spring waned into summer, my classmates and I forced ourselves to put away the books at least once a week on average in exchange for picnics in the Retiro, evenings out for tapas to celebrate birthdays, and, as the year drew to a close, farewell dinners. It was even more difficult than I had imagined to say goodbye to my friends one by one. I stayed a little later than some because of my class at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, but the end came all too soon for me, too. I left many dear friends back in Spain, and others are now scattered all across the world, from New York to Thailand. I keep reminding my parents that they're lucky I came back home at all--I could have easily had at least a part-time job in Madrid and, according to my old host mother in Segovia, a husband. When I went up to say goodbye to her, she had a student who didn't speak much Spanish. I translated, and she introduced me as the former student who came to her daughter's wedding and who she wanted to see marry one of her sons. "I think she'd get along best with Alfredo [the oldest] because they both love books so much," she said. She's such a dear woman, but poor Alfredo wasn't even there to defend himself! Needless to say, I didn't tell my parents that particular anecdote until after I was home. :-)
So before you ask what I'm doing now, I'm job hunting and daydreaming of the home I left abroad. I don't know what the future will bring, but I know that Spain will figure in it someday and somehow. I'm at a loss as to how to wrap up such an amazing year, so I'll close this email with a hug and a hope that the fall brings you all fresh adventures and delights.
un beso,
Mary
10 years ago
