A Pinay's magical tour of Spain

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the time I went to Spain on a scholarship to study Spanish culture and language. Just two years after arriving in the United States to teach (and being featured on Houston Chronicle five months later), getting a scholarship in yet another country was something that blew my mind.  I was very thankful but dumbfounded with the opportunities I was getting. Coming to America was easy for me – the qualifying exam, the interview, the requirements - it was as if an invisible hand was guiding me every step of the way. Then the chance to attend Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and be a student again came … it was icing on my career cake, so to speak.

Cursos Internacionales offered classes of Spanish language and culture to educators from all over US in cooperation with Spain’s Ministry of Education. The educator should have some use of Spanish language in his work. I was an English as Second Language teacher with almost a 100 percent of my students speaking Spanish or had Spanish ancestry and definitely knowledge of Spanish is going to be very useful.  College Spanish seemed centuries ago and I was ready to brush up on what I know. 

I traveled on my own. My husband was going to follow in two weeks so I really felt like I was making a very big step when it comes to independence. I am the youngest in the family and quite spoiled. It was my first time to travel abroad by myself. When I came to US, I was with a large group of teachers. Now, uncertainty awaited me. How will I get a ride from the airport to the dormitory in a country where English is not the predominant language? I sure wished I paid more attention to my Spanish teacher in college!

There are no strangers, just friends we haven’t met

I landed in Madrid airport then boarded another plane for a little-over-an hour- trip to Santiago. This was pre-digital camera time and also before I became interested in photography, so the thought of taking pictures for documentation never entered my mind. Besides, I was on pins and needles the whole time straining to catch English phrases. At last, I overheard some ladies talking about going to the dormitory and sharing a taxi. I joined in the conversation and found out we were all recipients of the scholarship. Those two teachers did not know each other before that but we all bonded right away. One was from Chicago, the other from Seattle.

I made more friends as the course progressed. There were three young teachers from California, a college professor from Maine who is deeply religious, a couple from Chicago, a very unassuming principal and his wife from Arizona, and several from Texas like me. We sat together at mealtimes, walked together during tours, tried out new places to eat at, studied for exams and exchanged stories. Until now, I get emails from them once n a while.

St. Augustine still watching over me

My first and only teaching job I had prior to migrating to the US was in Colegio San Agustin, Makati.  I stayed for 12 years before making the big move to relocate abroad.  I was very satisfied with my work and would still be teaching there if I didn’t heed the call of the Land of milk and honey. Suffice it to say that only a job abroad could make me leave CSA. When I left, I asked for Fr. H. Rodriguez’s blessing. He was and still is the rector and grade school principal and was also the officiating priest in my wedding. I wouldn’t be able to work peacefully abroad if I didn’t have his blessing. Every success I achieve I attribute to the work ethics and experience and training I got from CSA. To this day I remember his words to me – “Don’t forget that you are an Augustinian, a Filipino and a Catholic.”  I still am all of these.   

Imagine my surprise when I learned where the students would be housed in Spain - Colegio Mayor Universitario “San Agustin”!  St. Augustine was still guiding me.   

First European Cultural Itinerary

Santiago de Compostela may not be the first place that will come to mind when you think of Spain but to pilgrims around the world, it is the place to be because they believe this is where Apostle James (Santiago) is buried.  It is considered one of the three holy cities, the other two being Rome and Jerusalem.  It is said you can get absolution from your sin if you make the pilgrimage of St. James. 

July 25 is his feast day.  The pilgrims time the end of their journey so that they reach the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in time for the celebration.  We tried to imitate the pilgrim’s route during a field trip on the first weekend but ours was way shorter. 

Our course ended just in time for the feast.  On the eve of the feast, we sat on the pavements of the Praza do Obradoiro and were enthralled with the firework display. It was spectacular and I had goosebumps running through my spine the whole show. The next day during mass, a huge incense burner called botafumiera was swung from the ceiling of the cathedral by a team of men. Who would have thought that my husband and I would be able to witness a cultural and religious event halfway around the world? All of these were because I was fortunate to heed the call of opportunity.

Real education 

The real education is found outside the confines of the four walls of the classroom. I love how safe I felt walking the streets by myself even at night. Santiago is a small city and you can around by walking. The streets are called rua, which is Galician, rather than the Spanish calle.  There are lots of squares, and it is not wanting in churches, as if the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral wasn’t enough. There are hidden corners waiting to be explored, tucked inside would be places serving traditional Galician fares or tiny groceries where one can get pastries or sweets.

As the feast was getting closer, musicians would mount mini concerts on street corners.  I had no qualm sitting on the pavement to take in this display of talents. One time, I saw a lady looking at me from across the street and she mouthed, “Filipina?”  to which I replied, “Oo” with a smile. Her smile was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life. 

After the course ended, everyone who is not leaving had to move to another dormitory as San Agustin will be closed for the summer. This second dormitory was quite a walk from the city square but was cheaper than regular hostel. My husband and I decided to stay for several more days before we traveled to other cities because I was feeling a little bit under the weather.  Due probably to exhaustion (I taught summer school before the trip). I got sick before we left Santiago for Avila. There was a canteen in this dormitory but the food was better in the places near St. Agustin. I wanted to get well fast so I wasn’t in the mood to try new dishes. I requested for something familiar and my husband had to walk by himself for almost an hour to grant my request. What I asked for – hamburger with French fries on the side. 

My husband has had Spanish also in college and like most Filipinos, knows some words.   He decided to add potato omelet to my hamburger so he ordered hamburgesas con tortilla de patata and got a surprised look from the food server.  “Hamburgesas con tortilla de patata”, he repeated wondering why the server couldn’t understand him. The server motioned putting the omelet inside the hamburger buns and that’s how he realized he should have said hamburgesas y tortilla de patata.

Exploring on our own

My husband and I went on our own field trip to A Coruna which is the northernmost part of Spain and saw Torre de Hercules which, like Santiago, has been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. We visited museums and entered many a shops looking at trinkets and sipped café con leche while people-watching.   

 We walked the Walls of Avila, sampled yema and ate paella in the same city. We took the chance to talk to fellow passengers when our train had problems on a night trip on the way to Granada. A friend took us to have tea at 2 am upon arrival and believe you me, Granada was still awake that time. Alhambra is majestic during the day but there was something dreamlike about it at night when we first saw it (well, actually early morning). We toured the majestic Alhambra and Generalife and sampled tapas in Granada. In Madrid, we saw the façade of the famous Golden Triangle (three museums namely Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen-Bornomisza), saw the city’s famous landmarks - El Oso y el Madrono, a popular statue of a bear eating fruits off a Madrono tree and a large equestrian statue of King Carlos III, fought off pickpockets on the way to Plaza Mayor and still managed to enjoy the Puerta del Sol after the brush-in incident with gypsies who are famous for these acts.

Will I do it again?  In a heartbeat!

James Michener wrote that if you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. We thoroughly enjoyed the food (eggplant sandwich, anyone?), experienced celebrating the Feast of St. Joseph with pilgrims on the grounds of Santiago, attended mass with the botafumiero being swung and befriended hostel owners every city we stayed in, so I think we did well. Avoid the people? I almost did when an old man kept on coming close to me when we were about to tour the Walls of Avila. He was also attempting to touch my cheeks but I politely told him that I was a turista. I probably resembled somebody he knew. And what about the gypsies in Madrid that we have been warned about on more than one occasion? The near pickpocketing incident would have easily thrown others off their mood but we didn’t let it dampen our day.    

My husband and I absolutely enjoyed the whole experience; we always talk about going back. We certainly would try out more dishes, go to more cities (Barcelona, Pamplona, Sevilla), try more culture (bull fighting and flamenco dancing, why not?). There’s a whole wide world waiting to be explored and we are just too eager to become pilgrims again in this never-ending quest for education and adventure.

Joyce Marasigan-Giron, 44, is a teacher in Houston, Texas.