Paraiso Natural

Sipping sangria on the sunny Costa de la Luz. Bull fights in enormous stadiums. Flamenco dancing under the moonlight. Ask someone to think of Spain, and this is likely what he or she describes. But wander anywhere outside of Andalucia (the largest of the provinces spanning the southern coast), and a country only twice the size of Oregon boasts a diversity of languages, traditions and landscapes.

Directly opposite the Southern Coast both geographically and culturally is our new home of Oviedo in the Northwest province of Asturias. Known as the Paraiso Natural (Natural Paradise), Asturias is roughly the size of Conneticut. A climate of mild temperatures and rainy winters similar to that which is found in Oregon (both are located at the same lines of latitude) produces expansive green hills and apple orchard-crammed countrysides, which lie between the Cantabrian Sea to the north, the high summits of the Cantabrian mountain range to the south, and the Picos de Europa to the east. The population (around 1,100,000 inhabitants) is concentrated mostly in the center in Asturias' three largest cities: Oviedo, the capital city with a population of 220,000, a large university, and enough shopping districts to put Portland to shame; and the coastal towns of Aviles and Gijon. The famous pilgrimage, Camino de Santiago de Compestela, runs through the center of Oviedo - right down our street and in front of our doorstep- on its way west to Galicia. Before our arrival to the Oregon of Spain, we spent a few days in Madrid for an orientation. Having sprinted from one gate to another in Heathrow, London, we weren't the least bit surprised when our bags failed to show up in Madrid. They were delivered tranquilamente to the hotel the next day, saving us an expensive taxi ride by allowing us to cruise the metro easily. Five hundred recently graduated, international 20-somethings filled the hotel's lobby with excited and anxious energy. A constant buzz of multi-lingual conversation filled the air in our dining hall and the private rooms where we attended lectures that revolved around what to expect over these next eight months. The program has nearly 2,500 participants, all here to teach their native language, be it German, Italian, French, Chinese or English. We mingled a lot between meetings, eager to soak up any additional information about apartment hunting and teaching private English lessons. The 15 other North Americans in Asturias were as excited as we were, most having visited Asturias previously on exchange.

For me, Claire, the experience was reminiscent of previous exchange program orientations: many expectations, doubts, hopes and curiosity surrounding the new country we'd call home. As much as I enjoyed meeting the other participants and directors during our long meetings, I was especially happy to stroll Madrid's streets during our free time, snapping photos in Parque de Retiro and Puerta del Sol.

For me, Ryan, it was a very long and muddled day of important details that seemed very reminiscent of university-life, and only one expectation was very clear: although you will be speaking English a majority of the time at your respective schools, for now you better understand fast-paced Spanish with a Spain accented twist because we are going to hammer you with important details regarding your responsibilities as a member of this highly prestigious program. It was a tough contradiction to swallow on my first weekend in Spain after a 6 month break from having spoken and learned the language in Ecuador, and provoked an overwhelming feeling of under-qualification due to the fact that I was surrounded by Spanish major graduate-level students who have lived in Spain before. Thankfully, I had Claire's comprehension at my aid or else it would have been impossible to complete the tasks that were required of us during this past week (establishing residency before setting up bank accounts in order to eventually get paid).

Heading north on the ALSA bus as soon as the orientation ended, we watched dry, brown planes turn to molehills and then to mountains out the bus window as we reached our paradise. Conchi, the head English teacher at Claire's school – El Batan in Mieres - greeted us warmly at the station. She brought us to the piso (apartment) which we'd asked her to check out for us, and we held our breath as we opened the door. PERFECTO!!! The small, cozy, stylish one-bedroom is more than we could have asked for! With views of the surrounding mountains and only a 20-minute-long walk from Oviedo's central park, Campo San Francisco, the location is ideal. Not to mention we have a fruit and veggie shop on one side, a meat shop on the other, and four mini-supermarkets within a four block radius (a perfect compromise for this omnivorous couple). We've been accumulating missing essentials (a toaster, slippers, utensils…) over the past week and are eager to share our new home with anyone who wanders this way. The brand-new sofa bed, complete with fleece we purchased for our guests, can be yours if you feel inclined to come a knocking!!

Our address is:
C/La Arganosa 68, Bajo K
Oviedo, Espana 33013

We began our first week of school in a blur of jet-lag and excitement. It was a hazy week filled with early mornings spent running around the city to a number of gov't agencies, figuring out transportation to our schools, and then rushing to get there in time to introduce ourselves to our teachers and students for some of the last classes of the day. Ryan works in Langreo, and Claire, in Mieres. Both towns lay about 20-40 minutes outside of Oviedo by car, train or bus. These once wealthy, but industrial, pueblines (towns) now face economic hardship after the coal industry slowed and many factories were forced to close. Fewer students attend our schools each year as parents move to find work in other parts. But we have been impressed by the programs, professors and students so far. Both schools are "secondarios", the students ranging from 11-18 years old.

My (Ryan's) concerns over not having had much correspondence with anyone from my school were immediately put to rest when I realized the English director of my school was the Einstein looking fellow I'd previously mentioned to Claire that I'd “wished was my guy because he looks fun,” when we entered the first meeting in Oviedo. Besides speaking English very well, Paco and the rest of my fellow teachers are the most welcoming and comfortable people I could have imagined I would be blindly forced to work with for a school year. I work in the neighborhood of La Felguera, which has a small school of about 300 students, one of the three found in the town of around 50,000 people. My blonde-haired presence was met with giggly, googly-eyed teenagers and overwhelmingly excited teachers, all more than excited to give a gleeful “hello!” or “how are you?”. The two previous language asst.'s were girls from Britain, so they said this is a welcome change. My week consisted of only 6 different classrooms, wherein nearly the entirety of each period was spent talking in English about everything having to do with myself- whether it be about the similarities between Asturias and Oregon, everything futbol, tastes in music, or Hollywood cinema. Their proficiency with the English language at such a young age has left me in total shock. Although it is a pleasantly stark contrast from what we experienced during our month of teaching in Ecuador, I now realize just how valuable it is having previously taught in such a disorganized environment. I (Claire) am focusing on pronunciation and listening skills with classes in each grade. Not all classes are "English"; I also assist in Technology, Math and Music (the latter far more up my alley than the first two). Most of the students speak with confidence and are eager to work with this year's extranjera (foreigner). They have a much more advanced level of English than any of the students I taught during my three stays in Ecuador, and I look forward to taking classes further than colors, numbers and simple sentences. My co-teachers couldn't be more welcoming, inviting us to hike in the mountains on weekends and offering me lifts to and from Oviedo. “Work” will be a pleasure... and I'll have plenty of time for private English lessons in the afternoons in order to fund our travels outside of Spain.

Summer-like weather has us enjoying Oviedo's parks and hiking to the Cristo atop a mountain for a view of the city in our free time. We've visited Claire's Spanish host mom on a few occasions, playing flamenco versions of "Killing Me Soflty" and enjoying her delicious culinary skills. We also spent a lazy Saturday at Paco's large, beautiful villa outside of town, complete with an orchard and garden he spent years creating, and the sweetest dog in Spain. He gave us authentic sidra-pouring lessons (sidra is a hard apple cider that needs to be poured with arm stretched high in order to break bubbles and create its unique taste), general advice, and wisdom coming from a well-traveled teacher born and raised in Asturias. And probably the best fish fillete we will ever eat in these eight months. We ended the night over wine, a fine assortment of Asturian cheeses and classical guitar riffs on the moon-lit patio.

For photos from the past few weeks, check out the album "Bienvenidos a Asturias" on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/clapoma