Two Brothers, An Irishman and A Bar

I know, I know. It sounds like the opening to bad joke, right? But I swear, only good jokes were told. Some of them even a little perverse and dumb.

When you move to a new place, sometimes it can be difficult to meet people and make new friends, especially if there is a language barrier. And if it were not for the people I will be mentioning later in this post, life in Madrid would be much duller (and perhaps a lot sadder). As I mentioned in my earlier post about los personas en mi TEFL, sometimes the people you meet aren't always the people you want to be around. And so, when a new opportunity presented itself to meet people from a different side of Madrid, I jumped on it.

I don't know if he is aware of it but a friend of mine I have known for a while through the internet (courtesy of metal-r.us) introduced me to some of the most interesting people I have met in Spain so far. He is not a native Spaniard but an Irishman, who comes to Spain on a bi-annual basis (more or less) with his long time girlfriend (who is Spainsh). It was two weeks after I arrived in Madrid that they came to visit. I had been in my TEFL all week long and having only 1 free weekend, I spent it unpacking and walking down Castellana Street with my flatmate at the time. He and is friends were the nicest and friendliest people I had met so far. They showed me around a bit of the Moncloa and Arguellas areas. Both fantastic night life spots and great for students.

Over the following Friday and Saturday we walked through a large festival in Madrid (the largest one in Madrid, held every August in the La Latina area). Anyone who hadn't left Madrid or its surrounding neighborhoods yet for vacation was at this festival.

To describe this type of event in only a few words can't possibly do it any justice, but I will do my best. Imagine, thousands of people dispersed over a space less than a mile in diameter, people falling over drunk in the streets, loud screams and yells, the swealtering heat of Madrid in August, people with bags and bags of beer, coke, juice and alcohol, the mixed sounds of loud music from different sources combined with the sounds of carnival games. Imagine, several stages with bands performing everything from pop to dance to Spanish cultural music. The smells of mediteranian spices, olive oil, fried potatoes, calimari and sausages, tortilla and egg and pepper. Hundreds of people surrounding the vedors selling every kind of food, people sitting anywhere there is free space and drinking, drinking, drinking till they reeked of the alcohol they finished. Now imagine this lasting 3-4 days.

After a few hours at the festival, we made our way to a suburb in the south of Madrid called Vallecas known in the past for its heavy metal bars and clubs. We went to one that my friend knew well and had been to before. He was also good friends with the owner of the place and his brother. An extreme metal bar with two crazy Spaniards operating the place.Finally, a place to go talk metal, drink and meet other like-minded individuals. Though the language issue was a problem for the older of the two, most of the time we managed to persevere.

Over the course of the next several months, I've become well acquainted with these two brothers, the others that occasionally work there, and the consistant regulars that make apperances. I've found comfort in this place where the music is loud, everyone wears black, bullet belts are common and discussions of death, morbidity, music, philosophy and religion co-exist where it would normally scare away the less metal friendly individual. The best thing...even though language barriers are an issue, the Spanish love to talk usually, and even when they can't express themselves, it doesn't make them stop talking.

I found a solid metal base in Madrid that I am quite thankful for. People I can see regularly at concerts, discuss the varying sub-genres of metal and talk technicalities with. Sometimes I wonder if I seem a burden because of my lack of Spanish but the people are so open, welcoming and friendly, it's hard to think that for long.

In terms of the people I've met over the course of my time here, I've found this select group to be the most honest, the most interesting and the most fun to be around. Many times people might look at a group of indivudals like these and see only long messy hair, strange clothes, all black, leather and spikes and make judgements on who they are as people. All I see are friends.

What we learn from TEFL and Sangria

My EBC TEFL Class

What is a TEFL, might you be asking?

Well, TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. It is generally a month long, intensive course one can take in almost any country where English is not the native language and there is a need for teachers. According to people I've spoken with, it is quite popular around Europe (Eastern Europe in particular) and Asia. If you really want to go to Western Europe, don't expect huge markets in any major city (aside from Madrid). You should concentrate instead, on smaller cities or villages/towns. As I hear from my Frenchies - If you really want to see France, it isn't in Paris.

Doing a TEFL is an interesting experience. You are in a foreign country where, in all probability, you don't know the native language beyond a few words. You are probably away from most, if not all your family and friends. Although, if you are lucky, your boyfriend/girlfriend came with you. And if you are REALLY lucky, you know someone who did this before you in the same country and you decided to try it too. But for the rest of us who don't have boyfriends or girlfriends or they can't afford to travel and who don't have any pre-existing friendships here, don't expect everything to be easy from the get go.

The classes can vary in size, depending on the time of year and interest in that location. I had 10 other people in mine, when I came for the August 2008 course, all from varying backgrounds. 8 girls and two guys. One of the guys being Australian and the other British. Of the women, 1 was a native from Spain, 1 from Australia and the others from different parts of the U.S. including California, Georgia, Texas, Michigan, Arizona, Tennessee and me, from New York.

As far as bonding goes, most people in these TEFL courses do tend to bond with each other, form small social groups or 1-2 small cliques depending on the number of people involved. Its to be expected this would happen when everyone is in the same situation (more or less) and away from home. This has its positives and negatives. If you find yourself, for example, with little in common with your particular group, you may find yourself somewhat removed from the overall festivities between your classmates. Generally, there are a few people (1-3) who tend to make themselves the organizers for all event related activities for the group. This will be how the social clinging begins. A few events will be organized and whoever shows up tends to become part of the group. Those who don't...well, they don't. Now I felt a bit sad I couldn't partake in most of my classmates activities because, well, I was broke. I had nothing except enough to pay rent and buy a few meager groceries. I avoided even riding the metro at the time because I didn't want to spend the few Euros on that. The most I did during months of August and September was going to someone's flat or to the park. Seeing museums when they were open free to the public and walking around. So, while my classmates were off to other parts of Spain together, or to a water park, or to clubs and bars and afternoons dedicated to Bikram Yoga (if you read any resentment in my words, its ok, it was there and yes I was a little jealous, but you would be too if you were me), I stayed and wandered around Madrid. So, they became closer as a unit and I drifted farther apart. It didn't bother me so much because I am quite used to being on my own and not traveling around with other people.

Was it lonely? Yes. Was I home sick? Yes. Was I tired of being broke? Yes. But unforeseen circumstances led to my lack of funds and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Did I get over it? Yes. And those of you who might wonder, "what if that’s me?" that gets ostracized for not participating, don't fret. The people you meet during your TEFL time are not the be all end all. Often times they are the more ....how can I say this...snobbish? of the people you will meet in Spain or wherever you go. Its possible I'm generalizing. I can only speak of course for the people in my own TEFL class.

As for the TEFL itself, you do learn a lot. Don't let the price of it scare you off. You learn a great deal about using the English language, about grammar, about teaching formats, designing lessons, how to deal with problem students, motivation, using different tools, activities of all kinds and how to not be afraid to stand and talk in front of a bunch of people. I've heard that the number one fear in people is Public Speaking, followed in second by dying. I don't fear either. Do I particularly like either? No, but they do not scare me. Personally, my biggest fear is public embarrassment. So in the end, you will learn quite a lot over the month you are in the course. And they will help you in your job hunting. Although, you may want to look around on your own too. While they do send your CV out, with the economy as it is, you need to do your own grunt work as well.

Street. Where to our wonder, we were surprised with the most wonderful array of tapas and Sangria. Those of you who have yet to taste the gloriousness that is Spanish Tapas are really missing out. Tapas can be made from a variety of things, from tuna to jamon, sardines to potatoes, chicken, to olives to chorizo and so on. Add on about 10 pitchers of Sangria and you have yourself a Spanish party. And of course, adding alcohol to any situation puts everyone's personality right out into the open.

So that’s it, TEFL in a nutshell. Hope you enjoy. Stay tuned for my next article where I explain how music crosses all language barriers.