Fulbright Spanish Language Assistant Esther Pescador de Galdo Shares More of Her Interview with Kaitlin Roeper

¡Hola! The Spring semester is finishing and soon I will be going back home. I am really sad about leaving but I am also looking forward to going back home so I can be with my family and friends. Kaitlin Roeper has written an article in The Iron Blade (you may read Kaitlin's article here) about my experience here in Ferrum College and she asked me a few more questions that I would like to share with you.

Q.: How has your experience at Ferrum been different from what you expected?

I did not have any expectations really, because I know every experience is different. It is true that I thought there would be more events concerning intercultural events or the promotion of different countries and cultures on campus but I tried to bring my own experience into my classroom in order to promote my culture and my country as well as to teach the Spanish language.

Q: What was your favorite part about being here?

My favorite part is to be living in such a remote place. I love having gotten used to not seeing taxis, buses, shops and people everywhere. I think I was lucky to be able to experience something so different from what I was used to. I am so glad I was not placed in a big city. There were times when I felt a bit lonely but I am really happy I could experience once in a life time living in a remote place like Ferrum. I have learned to appreciate and value things that I used to take for granted like taking the bus or being able to choose if I wanted to go to the cinema or the theatre and being only 20 minutes away from either. Also I love the accent of the people from around here, which I found very hard to understand at the beginning. And I love going to Floyd and listening to music there. I even tried to learn how to dance with Jessa King but I was not very successful… I am really going to miss Floyd!

Q: What can you take away from this experience?

I have experienced America, since I was used to Ireland and England and the English and culture there, so I have a broader knowledge of the English-speaking world now. So basically I have learned a lot and experienced new things, and become a better teacher and person through my experience here. Also, I am going to miss my students. I love when they see me around campus and they address me in Spanish and say to me: ¡Hola! I have met really nice students and I hope they will miss me a little bit too.

Q: Did you accomplish what you were hoping to get from this experience?

Apart from my teaching experience, and my traveling, I wanted to experience a country in which Spanish is the second language. I just wanted to have new experiences and I wanted to live in this country for a while to see what America is like from my own experience. My previous experiences in English-speaking countries as a Spaniard were always positive. Everyone wanted to talk to me in Spanish, ask me about Spain, tell me they have been on holidays there, etc. Here, however, a lot of people assumed I was Mexican, or either Mexican or Spanish, but there are 21 countries in which Spanish is spoken as an official language! Why could I only be from Mexico or Spain? Also, I have been walking in the street while I was talking in Spanish with friends and I was asked if I did not know how to speak English and I had to speak Spanish instead, and also I was told that in America “we” speak English. On the other hand, I have students who are really interested in learning a new language and in learning about different cultures and countries, so I hope I have showed them a bit from other countries and cultures, and I hope they are curious about what there is outside America and they travel! Also, I hope that students who are bilingual and speak both English and Spanish are proud of their origin and their languages and keep speaking Spanish and speak Spanish to their children one day. My biggest accomplishment would be if my students felt curiosity and wanted to travel and wanted to continue learning Spanish and to broaden their knowledge about different cultures and languages.

Q: What will you take back to Spain to teach others about us?

Well, first that America is not what we see in the movies like Sex in the City or shows like Friends. There might be some parts of America which are like that but there is another side of it, the one I got to experience. The one in which my neighbours are a squirrel and a woodpecker. The one in which there are no buses but pick-up trucks. From my experience, American people are really friendly and welcoming. I love walking in the cafeteria and everyone has always a smile on their faces, and when I walk around campus I always stop to chat for a while with everyone (so then I am always late!). I am taking to Spain great memories that I will share with my friends and family, and also experiences and pictures that I would use in the classroom when I am teaching English there, so as I have been promoting my culture here, I will promote this part of America I got to live to my students there. Hopefully I will come back to Ferrum one day!

See more of my photographs here.

Sharing My Spanish Culture & Language on Campus

From Madrid to Ferrum: Fulbright Adventures in the U.S.

¡Hola! Loads of new events have been happening on campus these days!

The Fulbright program seeks to form leaders who share their knowledge and culture, are open to new ideas, and are committed to international engagement, this is why, apart from teaching my language, my duty is also to promote my culture on campus as well as learn from the American culture. This is when the experience becomes truly enriching for the Fulbrighter.

I am teaching two different Spanish classes, so we could say that in some way I am sharing my culture, however, just my students get the chance to learn from my experience. Therefore, in order to promote my culture and my language on campus, I have been keeping myself busy! Now, I have my own radio show in Spanish and English. You can listen to Habla español on Tuesdays at 11 a.m. on Ferrum Radio. Each week, different guests come to share their experiences with all our amigos. On our first show, Jessa was talking about her experience studying abroad, and she encouraged everyone to do the same if they want to have an amazing experience (just like she did!) Last week, Clifton explained how he became interested in learning Spanish, and the impact his Spanish teacher had on him before coming to Ferrum to major in Spanish. In every show you can listen to music from different Spanish-speaking countries, for example, bachata, salsa, pop, and rap. Also, we discuss what is happening outside our borders, and there is some time for a short poem in Spanish from one of the important authors of the literature in Spanish, such as Rubén Darío or Antonio Machado.

Not only the radio has been keeping me entertained. Last Tuesday I gave a talk about Spain: “España in 10 questions”. We discovered interesting facts about Spain. For examples, Spain was the fourth country in the world to legalize gay marriage and bullfighting is not as popular as it might be expected.

I will give another talk about Spain in March, so I hope to see you all there! And  tune in to our Spanish show, Habla español every Tuesday at 11 a.m. on Ferrum Radio.

See more of my photographs here.

From Madrid to Ferrum: Fulbright Adventures in the U.S.

Fulbright Spanish Language Assistant Esther Pescador de Galdo found a new home at Ferrum College for the 2015-16 academic year.

¡Hola! My name is Esther. I arrived at Ferrum College two months ago to teach Spanish. I am from Madrid, Spain. This is my first time in the United States, and so far, the experience is going great!

I did my undergrad in Translation and Interpreting in Madrid and I also did a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics in Dublin (Ireland). I love languages, traveling, getting to know new cultures, peoples, traditions… and this is one of the reasons I decided to apply for a Fulbright Scholarship to come to the United States. I never thought I would be accept it but here I am!!! I believe traveling is the best way to learn and that’s what I like doing.

My journey in the States started on August 16, 2015, at Stanford University in California, where I had an orientation for four days. There I got to meet other Fulbrighters from different countries including Uruguay, Kenya, Uzbekistan, India and others. It was an amazing experience. We had different sessions in order to get introduced to the American culture, we also learned about teaching our languages, we visited San Francisco, participated in different events.

After that, I arrived at Ferrum College. My first impression was: what am I going to do here for fun? Ferrum is very different from the big cities of Madrid and Dublin. However, it has in common with my previous experiences that people are really friendly and welcoming. Since the very first day people have been really kind to me and always make me feel they are happy I am here.

Now I am teaching Spanish 101 and I participate in the Spanish Club on campus. I will be here until the end of May, so hopefully my experience will continue to be this excellent!

See photographs from my time in the United States here.

From Spain Back to Ferrum and Onward

by Delana S., Panther Blogger

Whew!  It has been forever since I last blogged and things have been crazy.  Since my time in Spain, I returned back to the United States on December 20th.  Let me say that it felt so good to see my family in person; we did Skype all the time while I was in Spain, but it is vastly different.  From there, I prepared myself to come back to Ferrum and become reacquainted with speaking and hearing English again every day.  Coming back to the United States was not a huge adjustment for me, but that is only because I am used to moving and traveling around a lot.  In Spain, I learned a lot about myself and was able to be myself all the time.  I made lots of friends and I keep in touch with them regularly.

My friends Song and Sarah B.

My best friends in the program -
Felle and Sarah

My usual group of friends

My Alicatina friends

My host mom Andrea

Dinner with my classmates

Christmas celebrations

My co-worker and I
after my return home

Just thinking about it, I talked to a few of my friends a couple of days ago and they told me that some of the friends that I made had asked about me and that makes me happier than most people would think.  I made a home for myself over there and a family that I cannot wait to go see again.  I also talk to my host mom often and keep her updated with what's going on in my life.  Coming back to Ferrum was a bit strange for me because I am a different person and I grew up a little bit more, but knowing who I am makes all the difference.

New look for me

Since the start of this semester, I've had a lot to do and it has kept me really busy!  For starters, I am writing my senior thesis in Spanish about Flamenco, which I learned during my time abroad.  It is a fascinating and intriguing dance with a complicated history; I've had a lot of fun researching it, though at times, it is challenging.  In general, I've had 5 classes, with one being a half-semester science course, so now I have four classes including the thesis class.  It would seem that I should have some time to enjoy the rest of this semester with minimal work, but I am writing another thesis paper in Spanish focused on literature, and a small thesis paper for a history class.  It is a good thing that I like to write or that would be a struggle!  At this point, I am almost done with those papers, but I also have other events that I have to prepare for, such as "Put Cuffs on Cancer," Spring Fling, and a variety of events for seniors.  Graduation isn't that far away now, but at the same time, it is.  It's funny to think about how time has flown by so fast, but yet I still remember coming to Ferrum and beginning my freshman year.  Well there is more that I have to do until that point, but stay updated to read how it all ends here...though in reality, it is only the start of a new adventure!

Adventures in Granada, Spain

by Delana S., Panther Blogger

As another part of the program, we went to Granada, where we toured the city, saw a flamenco show, and stayed in a four-star hotel.  Talk about being a little fancy on our trip (hahaha), but it was really beautiful! 
When we first arrived, we checked into our hotel and then headed into the center of the city, where we then split off into groups to go explore and find places that interested us.  That night, we went to the Alhambra to see some parts of it.

My friend Devin and me

My group consisted of my friend Devin and me because smaller groups are sometimes better than big ones.  We went to a tea restaurant, which also had sweets, and we sat and talked.  It was a very relaxing atmosphere and there weren't a lot of people.  We were in an alley with lots of shops at this point, so we also got some shopping done and explored what these shops in Granada had to offer.  Just to make sure I mention it, Granada means pomegranate, which do grow there.

The beautiful city of Granada

An alley of many shops

La Alhambra at night

La Alhambra was absolutely amazing during the night and even more captivating and mesmerizing during the day.  I have no words to describe what I saw, but you may be able to get a sense of it because I do have a lot of amazing and gorgeous pictures of the buildings, the gardens, and the views of the city.

Besides just touring the city, we also went to a Flamenco show, which blew me away!  It was passionate, intense, and I couldn't look away for any part of it.  Since my thesis focuses on Flamenco, I tried to talk to some of the dancers, but it was not very productive because Flamenco is such a big part of who they are that it was hard for them to answer my questions.  I don't blame them for that though because based off of my research, you start learning Flamenco at a young age and then it is something that is always part of who you are.  I am taking a Salsa/Flamenco class here and it is definitely not easy!  The salsa part I have down, but Flamenco is a bit more technical since both sides of your body eventually do the same thing, but you also have to focus on your arms and your movements.  It is very interesting to learn, and I know that I will try to demonstrate it for my friends when I come back home.  Plus, I also promised my mom that I would show her a few of my new moves. She just laughed at me and nodded.

Overall, Granada was a relaxing trip and helped us get a break from our studies and exams.

Weekend Trips, Bonding Time, and Exploring Madrid

By Delana S., Panther Blogger

Since the last time I wrote, a lot has happened!  My friend Annie and I spent our long weekend in Madrid checking out the city, exploring the sites, and making new friends.  It was not my first time in Madrid, but since she wanted to take a trip with me and eventually go to Madrid, I agreed and I am glad that I did.  Three of our other friends from our program met us there, along with some French girls that we have gotten to know during our time here.

We stayed at a hostel that was central in the city in the sense that from there, you could walk to everything and get anywhere that you needed to.  It was called Las Musas and it was very nice! The hostel gave us a variety of activities to participate in:  pub crawls, flamenco shows, walking tours of the city, and more.  The staff were all so nice and were thoroughly surprised that we knew Spanish so well.  That really allowed us to make friends, and they gave us all the information that we wanted on where to go, where to eat, and things of that nature.  We stayed in Madrid for three days and four nights.

My friend Annie and me

Night number one was spent resting, interacting with the other people staying at the hostel, and getting to know the area we were staying in.  That in itself was an adventure, but that's how I like to live.  The next day was spent checking out all of the great artwork in el Museo Nacional Del Prado (Prado Museum).  It was great that we decided to do that because it rained off and on the entire day, but luckily, we were inside where it was nice and dry.  I remember going to the Prado before, but it was great going to tour it again with my friend and finding pieces that we really and truly enjoyed.  After that, we spoke with some of the people from the area and they told us about a unique little restaurant that had amazing food.  Annie and I were very happy with what we ended up ordering, and the employees were very funny and welcoming.  They thought that we were pretty amusing as well, since the whole time we were there, we spoke in a mix of English and Spanish, depending on what we were talking about.  That night, we participated in a pub crawl and met lots of new people from all over the world, but there were especially a lot of Australians.

Royal Palace view from the gardens

My friends Meriem, Felle, and me

The next day, we met up with our friends at the Palacio Real (Royal Palace of Madrid), walked around a little bit in the gardens, and enjoyed our time together.  How vastly different our lives are now due to our experiences here and meeting one another!  I know that I at least have 30 or so new friends on Facebook, and many of them are from here in Spain, Ireland, France, or other countries.

My friend Alex and me

View from the Reina Sofia

We then went on to explore the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia (Reina Sofia National Art Museum) and looked at all of the great works there.  The most amazing piece was a painting by Picasso that took up the whole room!  It was magnificent and one of the best parts of touring the museum.  That was my second time there and I highly recommend that travelers to the capital go visit it.  Other than that, it was a nice train ride home and doing homework for class the next day.  Well, until next time!  :)

I'm in Alicante, Spain!

by Delana S., Panther Blogger

I officially just completed week three of my time in Spain, and let me say that it is amazing!  I live with a wonderful host mother named Andrea, who is an amazing cook and very funny.  We live in an apartment building where there are three other students in the same program.  All of us have become pretty good friends and hang out frequently.  Things are great here and yet, I am also doing a lot of work for when I go back to Ferrum in the spring.  Everyone in the program comes from many different places around the United States, and each has a unique story and background that brings us all closer together.

As far as the city itself goes, it is beautiful and hot.  There is never a lack of sunshine here, and it makes taking a siesta more necessary than in the United States.  Also, it's too hot to do much of anything else, except go to the beach, which I have done a healthy amount of.  In all honesty, it feels like I traded one beach for another, since most of my time at home this summer was spent at the beach there.  The only difference is that this one is nicer in the sense that I can walk all the way out to my shoulders before it starts to get deep, and I can see my feet.  The water is not super-clear, but you can see the bottom and that is always a plus when swimming!

The Universidad de Alicante (University of Alicante) is where I am taking classes and spending an ample amount of my time during the week.  Granted, I do not have Friday classes and that is a huge plus in my book, and I am only at the University when I need to be.  The University used to be the airport during the civil war and there are some remnants of that through one of the buildings and the setup of some of the university walkways.  The campus is huge and it is taking a little bit of getting used to, but it is pretty diverse with a multitude of cafeterias, a bookstore, ATM, fountains, and fauna.  The best part of the University so far is that it is close to the city, but not in the middle of it since it is a little set off and makes its own mini-city within the campus.  It is also very common to find friends sitting/laying in the shade just hanging out or doing work.

When it comes to meeting people within the city, we all know that I am not shy and love interacting with strangers.  With Alicante being on the coast and a great tourist location, you can meet a lot of different people outside the university.  I have made a British friend by the name of Alexius, whom I met one day when I was asking for directions.  He remembered me the next time we saw each other and we became friends from that point on.  I have also made friends with two Spanish girls, Veronica and Esther, who are both really interesting to talk to and help me with whatever I need to do or get around here in the city.  They are also great people to go out with and eat tapas or grab ice cream with.  Tapas would more or less be the United States version of appetizers.

I do have some plans to travel and visit a few places around Spain, and so far, I have been to Valencia. It is a unique city that they say is similar to Alicante in many aspects, but at the same time, it is different.  While there, we toured around the city and during my free time, I was able to go with a group of my friends to enjoy some nice Paella, which had chicken and mushrooms in it.  Paella is a Valencian rice dish that can contain an assortment of ingredients.

Every day is a learning experience in Alicante.  It is not my first time in Spain, but it is in this new city, and I have figured out my way around it mostly.  More is sure to happen as my time here continues, but until then...

Being Back at Ferrum

by Delana S., Panther Blogger


Since returning from D.C., I have had to readjust myself to Ferrum and being back in a slower-paced environment.  It is refreshing, but at the same time increasingly hard because I have been on the go for so long that my body really just got used to it.  I am so glad to be back home.  I missed all of my friends and my professors here.

Still, this semester is very busy for me because I have to make some decisions regarding next year and what I want to do when I graduate.  So far, I have come to the conclusion that I want to go to graduate school and be a Foreign Service officer.  I had the opportunity to meet a few people who could tell me what I needed to do to start the application process and what it includes, but I'm not sure where I'm going to end up.  Things have been looking pretty bright for me and my future, but it is hard when you want to do everything!

One thing that I truly love about this semester is that I really get to work on public relations for the Student Government Association.  I was elected with the cabinet, but they really didn't need me in the fall, so I get to do a lot now and I love it!  Ferrum College's Student Government Association now has a Twitter account and will soon have an Instagram and a Tumblr account.  These are my "pet projects" because with technology becoming more prominent in careers, it is good to start building a network and reaching out to others on social media.  I also get to work on other creative projects and have fun with them.

Besides that, I am also getting involved with the Ferrum Leadership Fellows again. Despite being absent from Ferrum's campus last semester, being in D.C. helped me to work on my leadership skills and also further develop my communication skills that will help me be a good and effective leader.  The best part of having a good relationship with the company is that they allowed me to come back and help with a big event, and I was able to see many of the people who I had previously met.  It was an amazing experience and I am glad that I had the opportunity to work with them all once again. I love being a leader and taking on leadership roles because it is always a fulfilling adventure.

One thing that I thought that I wouldn't be able to do within my four years at Ferrum is study abroad, but I went to D.C. last semester and now I am going to be heading off to Alicante, Spain for the upcoming fall semester!  It seems that I am doing a lot, but with my second major being Spanish, it is a good opportunity for me to be immersed in the culture and become fluent.  I am very excited because I have never been to this part of Spain - on the coast.  I have traveled to Spain multiple times, but this will be new. I will be living with a host family, attending the university, and learning about the people and the culture.  Many people can't believe I am leaving again, but I have to take advantage of every opportunity I can before I graduate.  I am excited for this new adventure!