It is hard to believe just how fast the weeks fly by here in Granada. On our way home from the lab on Friday, Bridget and I spent the 25 minutes from the CIMCYC building to the Albaicín (where we live) recollecting the entire week, day by day. We had such a fun time remembering each day, from what we wore, to the participants we tested, to the food (gelato) we ate. We have decided to make this an every Friday-afternoon kinda thing, to reflect on the special days we spend here in GRA.
We had quite a full week. Data collection is in full swing, and the participant responses are starting to roll into our joint email account (#CuddyPelella). I have enjoyed testing participants; they are curious about the project, where I come from, and why I am here. Just by talking to them, I get an inside look at what university life is like here, their interests, and suggestions for places to get quality tapas. Some of them are even helping with the recruiting process by telling their friends to participate in our research.
On Thursday, Bridget and I accompanied Marta, Francesca, and Antonio (members of the lab) to a local elementary school as part of the Bilingualism Matters outreach program. We read a cute short story called “The Planet of Truth” to the little kiddos in 3 languages; Spanish, English, and Italian (they liked the Spanish version the best jajaja). It was so nice to be included in this event. I loved being around the little ones. They sure did make us laugh. Una niña pequena me preguntaba “¿Sabes las planetas en inglés?” I had to bring out my science knowledge for that one.
Brun the Inventor, un cuento lindo
As we began to read the story one little guy said “Hello” to me, and it really caught me off guard because I responded by saying “Hola.” It is truly amazing to me that some of them in the room were simultaneously learning multiple languages at such a young age. It left me wishing that I started to learn Spanish at a younger age…
Here are more photos of the school/Bilingualism Matters talk:
Who wouldn’t want to go to this school, with a courtyard like this one? (plus the snacks were delicious, they shared a little tarta with us). Bilingualism truly does matter, and I am so glad I was able to participate in this event with such knowledgeable researchers who spent the hour educating parents (and bebés) about the value in learning more than one language as a young child.
Borja invited Bridget and me to Los Cahorros tomorrow morning for an outdoor excursion. He described the place as having hanging bridges, a river, and lots of rocks to climb. We are resting up the legs for that adventure. Ta luego!!
This must have been such a fun experience! And here is an interesting fact about Spanish. Most words of Spanish that end in “a” carry feminine gender. As such, “la patata”, “las camisas”, and “la mesa” are all feminine words. But, and here is the fun fact about Spanish, words that were borrowed from Greek (such as “planeta”, “cometa”, “teorema”, “programa”, “clima” and “problema”) are actually masculine. So, we don’t say “la problema” (despite the fact that it would be a very good candidate); instead we say “el problema.” And this is why we say “el planeta” and not “la planeta.”