Hacer-ing puente.

Here in Spain, they don't burn bridges.  They build them.

The Spanish are known for their fiestas.  Heavily influenced by Catholicism, the country celebrates 14 religious public holidays.  But the beauty behind these fiestas is that their flexibility.  A one day fiesta can be stretched into two days, three days, or even a whole week.  This process is called hacer puente, "making a bridge."

Puentes (pronounced PWEN-tays) normally occur when a public holiday falls in the middle of the week.  Depending on the company or establishment, some administration give their employees other days off.  For example, if there is a fiesta on Tuesday, some people won't have to work Monday either.  Or if the fiesta on a Thursday, people won't have to work Friday.  Both examples happened this week.

Puente galore.

The 6th and 8th are holidays

So this week, some people decided to hacer puente and take the whole week off.  Most of these people were university students.  Craig and I had to show up for work Wednesday only to find that 4 of our 150 students showed.

But now Wednesday is over, and it's my turn to be Spanish and hacer puente.  Because puente flying prices are expensive throughout the country, Craig and I decided to rent a car Thursday through Sunday and drive through different cities around the region (and a bit outside of the region).  This weekend we're going to:

 Valencia (region of Valencia)

Known for its "City of Arts and Sciences"

Calasparra (region of Murcia)

Known for its cathedral/monastery built into a mountain...and it's Spanish rice

 Jumilla (region of Murcia)

An area known for its wine

Last year I would use puentes to travel about Europe.  But this year, I like the idea of appreciating the true Spanish-ness of a puente and using it to get to know Spain a little better.


My advice to a guiri:  Enjoy Spain for what it's worth and hacer puente to a travel to an Iberian site.

Reading is a Virtue

When I know I have a meeting for work, I show up right on time, which is always at least 25 minutes early.

Yesterday, my first day back on campus, I was an hour and a half "early."  Good thing I had a book with me.  (If there's anything I've learned about working in Spain it's always bring something to entertain yourself while you wait.  Whether it be for the bus, a meeting, or class, I always find myself sneaking a few pages in here or there.)

So after waiting for 90 minutes, the meeting finally commenced.  Craig (my boyfriend and colleague, to keep you up to date) and I were informed that we had to immediately start teaching the next day (today).  Great.

Now, before you start judging me for being spoiled and not wanting to start my job that only requires 16 hours out of my week, let me explain the circumstances.  Craig and I teach a one-hour conversation class to more than 600 first-year college students.  During the rest of the week the students meet with the professors of the course to learn the grammar, writing, reading, etc.  Our class is just for reinforcement.

This year we have more students and less professors.  There are only two professors on staff when we need five; therefore the course hasn't even started this year.

Knowing this when we went into the meeting, Craig and I assumed that we wouldn't have to work this week.  The students haven't even learned the basic introduction content.  However, at the meeting we were told to have class this week, we just couldn't teach any material.  Somehow the university isn't concerned with hiring enough professors, but it wants to get its money-worth out of its lectors.

So this morning as I'm getting ready to go to work to give three one-hour-long presentations on West Virginia, Craig emails me from our classroom on campus.  He tells me that he's sitting in an empty classroom because the students, like us, assumed there was no class this week.  He prepares me for a boring day at work.

"Bring several books with you" are his exact words.


My advice to guiri:  As I mentioned before, always have something to keep you entertained because your patience will be tried and developed in Spain.  A book, newspaper, e-reader, iPhone, something.  While it may seem like an inconvenience to wait so much, try to look at it as extra time to practice developing your reading skills in Spanish.