The roaring twenties

On holiday

I spent the holidays in Spain travelling with C———. We visited Toledo, Madrid, Seville and Barcelona. We also spent a few hours, unexpectedly, in Zaragosa.

Some places to revisit:

Madrid

El retiro

Toledo

Hostal al castillo

Sevilla

tree outside the university, tomb of Cristobal Colón

Barcelona

Mirador de Colón, el templo de la Sagrada Familia, Palau Güell.

I’d been told about Park Güell by an aunt who had been there a few years ago. D—— was absolutely right: It’s beautiul. I’m glad that, while it never fulfilled the ambition of the original design, it has since been turned into a protected public space.

Feliz Año

The roaring twenties — roaring flames

We spent New Year’s Eve in Barcelona. There was a brilliant water, fire, fireworks display at midnight. The streets were packed for hours, and the cleanup afterwards was a sight. I have not seen so many drunk college kids since Mardi Gras in Caen, nor quite so many bottles on the ground.

Fear and kything at latke-mass

We spent much of the night with two Turks who were staying at the hostel as well. The evening went swimmingly though the one decided to drink almost half a bottle of cheap vodka and spent much of the way back on my arm, dry-heaving. He ended up no worse for the wear, and C——— and I welcomed the new year with a mid-morning snack from Taco Bell and a shot of aguardiente.

Welcome to the end–

–of the second decade of this century.

I returned from Spain having paid absolutely zero attention to the world at large, so it was a surprise to check Reddit on the third of January to teaser trailers of third installment in the World War trilogy in the form of news coverage and general perking up of the public’s ear.

Australia’s on fire. Normandy is cold, but more bearable since I turned the thermostat up to 19°. I’m going to see Rise of Skywalker ths evening.

What’s coming up this year:

Master MEEF

I have also been looking more and more into the process of getting a Master’s degree here in France. The Master MEEF (Métiers de l’enseignement, de l’éducation, et de la formation) would be the first step. Included is an introduction to research, as well as both theory and practice of teaching and instruction. The degree requires at least two years¹ to complete: one is mostly theory, the second is split between theory and practical application. A series of stages are part of the curriculum which starts with a period of observation then there is a period of assisted teaching.

TAPIF, too

In order to get the most out of the first year of the Master’s, I am going to apply for a second year of the teaching assistantship of which I am currently serving my first. It would mean a relatively tight schedule between university and teaching, hopefully a worthwhile tradeoff given the practical benefits of spending time in the classroom.